#and it's not as easy for me to get the juice flowing at home

[captainsparklefingers]

When you haven't written anything in like 2 or 3 weeks, a sudden burst of creativity that ends with you writing 573 words and ending the scene you'd been working on in your crappy lil story feels like a victory.

...of course the burst doesn't last but hey, any progress is good progress, right? And maybe that'll make working on this easier, too. Today isn't over yet, maybe the juice will come back, and even if it doesn't, I'll take a win, no matter how small.

[cobaltperun]

I haveth a request ☝️

could you write Cairo x g!p fem reader smut.

Maybe a childhood best friends type situation like Genius, but they stayed friends all throughout middle school and high school and they catch feelings for each other somewhere in between middle school and beginning of high school. They constantly sneak longing stares at each other and unknowingly make each other jealous until the tension is unbearable and one day when Cairo, Winnie, and reader are hanging out they started telling hookup stories but Cairo is still a virgin so she just sits there quietly listening and after Winnie goes home things happen.

No Chance

Cairo Sweet x Female (GP!) Reader (Request) (Smut, minors do not interact)

Masterlist

A/N: Feast! On the worst thing I have written thus far! I'm sorry Anon, this just didn't work for me. I wrote it, I kinda made what you asked for, but it didn't quite inspire me and I don't feel like leaving it for later would have made it flow any better.

Word count: 3.1k

You can’t love her like that. She’s your best friend.

Those were the words you kept saying to yourself for over four years now. Yet that love kept getting stronger as time passed. And every single time you thought that maybe, just maybe you could get over her you would just see her with someone, and it wouldn’t even have to be more than just sharing a laugh with some random guy, and you’d get reminded of how strong your feelings for her were.

Those feelings didn’t matter though. She was your best friend, and she didn’t love you back.

~X~

For how long was she going to torture herself like this? She loved you, she longed for you, yet her feelings always felt unrequited. True, Cairo has never been the most direct with her feelings toward you, fearing she would ruin the friendship that lasted since she was four years old. But there was no way you missed all of her longing glances. All the times she watched you so love-struck Winnie would tease her about it when it was just the two of them.

You were her protective best friend and you acted as one, though Winnie often referred to it as jealousy. Winnie didn’t know anything. You were like that even when the two of you were kids, protective and kind. It didn’t mean anything more, as she used to hope.

Not since you…

She couldn’t get angry, you just chose some other girl and that was it, and ever since then she lost hope of ever being with you. If it really didn’t mean anything to you to lose your virginity like that, why didn’t you just come to Cairo?

If it meant nothing to you, maybe in the end it would mean nothing to Cairo as well. As it was, she wasn’t even an option for you.

~X~

You and Winnie came over to hang out at Cairo’s place, since it was the most convenient location. Perks of her parents never being around, you guessed. Though you knew Cairo would gladly trade that perk for loving parents.

It started out as a regular night, you and Cairo leaning against the headboard of her bed, while Winnie sat at the foot of it. Being this close to Cairo wasn’t anything new, but you couldn’t help but feel the tension, something unspoken between the two of you ever since you told her about the girl you slept with. Either way, the three of you were playing cards until Winnie decided to speak up.

“Oh, yeah, did you ever go out with that girl you fucked?” she asked while you were in the middle of drinking the juice.

And, naturally, you nearly choked on it, because who the fuck opens the conversation with that?!

“Easy, lover girl,” Cairo was patting your back a bit too harshly, but it was getting the job done, and nearly choking made you miss the passive aggression dripping from her tone.

“Thanks,” you wheezed, finally sure that you would survive. “I’m okay now,” you glared at Winnie who just shrugged, though she did have an apologetic smile on her face.

“So, the what’s-her-name girl,” she reminded you as Cairo leaned back on her bed, though she made some extra distance between the two of you.

You rolled your eyes. “It was a one-night stand, we had a fun time and I left her house after we were done, I didn’t even sleep over,” you shrugged, giving up the minimal information because you knew Winnie wouldn’t let it go now that she remembered it.

Winnie stared at you blankly. “That’s a boring story for your first time,” she complained.

“Better boring than bad,” you figured reminding Winnie of her own first experience, which, well, didn’t end that spectacularly.

“Still,” Winnie let the gravity do its’ job as she leaned to the side and fell onto the bed. “I thought you’d wait for someone you love,” she pointed out.

You looked away, not wanting to look at Cairo at the moment.

“Y/N?” Cairo noticed your silence, forcing you to turn back and grin.

“There’s no point. I don’t have a chance with her, so, you know, no point in waiting,” you’ve given up on Cairo ever returning your feelings, so it really didn’t matter who you lost your virginity to. Not the most mature approach, but you were only eighteen, it was difficult to expect a mature approach from someone your age.

You could see Winnie about to tease you, but you glanced at her, shaking your head lightly and it luckily sent the message across, stopping her from saying anything else.

Eventually, it was just you and Cairo, as Winnie had to go finish some art project and for once Cairo figured she wanted to watch a movie.

“So, it’s nothing to you, having sex?” she asked you out of blue as the slow opening scene began playing on the TV, and you looked at her, frankly, confused by the tone of her voice. She sounded jealous and if she truly was jealous, you wished she showed you that earlier.

“I guess,” you fell back so you were lying next to her instead of sitting, though you could still see her face, and just looked at the ceiling. It’s not that it was nothing to you, you just, as you said to her and Winnie before, didn’t think you had a chance with ‘the one you loved’ that one being Cairo. So, you went and lost your virginity, it was mutual understanding that it was a one-night stand, and that was it.

“So, you wouldn’t mind taking someone’s virginity?” she asked, leaning back but not quite lying down and trailed her fingers across your arm.

Blood rushed to your face at the look in her eyes. You had to be misunderstanding this somehow, right? Surely, she didn’t mean her virginity?! “Yours?” you squeaked, which only made you feel even more embarrassed.

Cairo nodded, blushing furiously. “I don’t really want to lose it to just anyone, and you’re,” she paused, looking down as her hand slipped from your arm and onto the bed. “My best friend,” she refused to look at you.

You swallowed hard, fuck, she was serious. You touched her chin and gently tilted it up. “Are you sure?” you asked her and she just nodded, her eyes finally meeting your own.

“Let me take you out on a date first, give you the whole experience,” you suggested. “Tomorrow after school, we grab a nice dinner, and then if you’re still sure this is what you want, we’ll do it,” you still expected her to tell you it was a prank, but she just nodded, and though it was awkward and both of you stole occasional glances at each other you managed to get through the movie.

~X~

You took Cairo out, as you promised. After school you showed up at her house with a bouquet of red roses, properly dressed up for the date and forcing yourself not to look at her too much, as she was dressed in a beautiful, kinda short, black dress with open back.

“You look amazing,” you said smiling slightly as you handed her the flowers.

“Thanks,” she brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear and the two of you went out. You took her to the local restaurant, then to a bookstore, then for a brief walk before you finally went back to her place, and you could feel both of you being on the edge at the moment.

“If you change your mind we can stop at any time, it doesn’t matter if it’s now or if I’m hard, or if I’m even inside you. You say stop, we stop,” you assured her as she led you by your hand to her bedroom.

Cairo nodded and kissed your cheek. “You as well, I don’t want to pressure you into anything,” she told you as she sat down on her bed.

“Thanks,” you sat down to her right and leaned over, kissing her neck and her breath hitched. “Is this okay?”

“Mhm,” she closed her eyes and leaned back, exposing her neck to you. She moved her hands up and the tips of her fingers lightly massaged your cheek and jaw while her left hand slipped to the back of your head, her fingers running through your hair and massaging your scalp. “Oh,” she hummed when you found a more sensitive spot and sucked on it, surely leaving a hickey right there.

“Damn, you’re beautiful,” you whispered, your lips gliding over her skin until you reached her ear and gently nibbled on her earlobe. From the corner of your eyes, you saw Cairo squeezing her thighs, you saw her breasts rising and falling as her breathing became deeper.

You were going slow, making sure she felt every sensation as you slid your hand down her side, to her thigh, and you squeezed lightly before pushing her thighs apart and slipping a hand under her dress. You felt her tensing and relaxing as you caressed her bare stomach and sides, just playfully teasing her by occasionally pulling at the strap of her bra.

“Y/N,” she sighed, and you drank it all in, every small sigh, every tiny whimper or moan, every sound you made her make. You took it all in, not for a moment pausing when it came to kissing her neck.

“How are you feeling?” you asked her.

Did you really have to ask her? The only thing that would have made this even better would be if you kissed her on the lips, but it felt like you weren’t going to do that. Even without that she felt so damn good, your warm soft lips on her neck, your wet tongue, dragging over her sensitive neck, your hand under her dress, teasing her everywhere you could reach. She felt aroused, she felt the wetness soaking her panties and that was the only uncomfortable feeling she had. She needed to get them off, to feel your fingers down there instead. “It feels good, I need more though,” she gasped as you bit her neck. How long have you been paying attention to her neck? It was sensitive to begin with, but now it felt like every little touch was going straight to her puss. “Please, Y/N,” she moaned and leaned back, falling onto the bed and pulling you along with her.

“Are you getting wet, hm, Baby?” you rasped, and she gasped, her fingers digging into the back of your head as her left hand slipped down your throat, her nails undoubtedly leaving red stripes down your skin

“Yes! Please touch me,” she whimpered arching her back when you cupped her breast through her bra. You were building up her anticipation and she wondered why she ever waited to do this. Why did she never asked you to take her virginity before. “Can I kiss you?” she pleaded as she made you look her in the eyes.

“Cairo, that’s…” you paused, losing your momentum. As crazy as it might sound, you felt like kissing her would make this too real, that it would be one detail that makes all your feelings come out. That feeling her lips against yours would, more than anything, make you give into your feelings and ruin the friendship that was already hanging by the thread.

“Please,” she was breathing heavily, turned on, yet you saw something else in her eyes, something that couldn’t be true.

“I,” you tried to resist her, to not cross that line, but how many times did you imagine kissing her? You feared you’d regret either choice. In the end you nodded, and her lips pressed softly against yours, her hand gripping the fabric of your shirt as she pressed against you. And instead of fondling her breast you lowered your hand to her waist and hugged her.

Cairo moaned into the kiss, feeling like someone was setting off fireworks in her head. You let her kiss you, and she would be damned if she didn’t kiss you as many times as she would be allowed to tonight. If this was the one and only time the two of you would be intimate like this, she wanted all of it.

You separated from air, and you leaned your forehead against hers. “I’m sorry,” your apology made her heart sink. “I love you. You’re the one I have no chance wi-“ she cut you off with another kiss, her tongue danced with your own and she made you switch positions to get on top of you. “Fuck, Cairo,” you hissed as she threw her dress off and lifted your shirt up.

“You,” she was feral, kissing your neck, grinding against you, her hands roaming your body as if she had to map out every bit of your skin in her mind. “Dumbass!”

You just blinked, eyes wide and mouth open as you watched her, unable to come up with a response.

“Don’t have a chance with me?! I’ve loved you for years you idiot!” she yelled, her voice cracking as she pulled back and just looked at you. “I love you,” she whispered, kissing you deeply and it all made sense now, her reactions, her glances, and you cursed yourself for being too blind to see that all along your feelings were reciprocated. “I love you,” she said again when she paused kissing you. “Now, let’s finish what we started,” she whispered, her lips ghosting over yours and you lost it a bit when she took her underwear off and helped you strip as well. You were already hard, but you wanted to prepare her more, to make her cum, or at least bring her close first.

“Yes, Ma’am,” you teased and slipped a finger between her folds, she was wet enough for your finger to just slip in.

“Fuck,” she whispered at the feeling of your finger pushing into her and she wondered how your cock would feel as she experimentally rocked her hips back and forth, causing her clit to rub against your palm.

“That’s it, Baby, ride it,” you gently pushed another finger inside her after you were sure she was wet and stretched enough, and it took a bit to adjust, but the pleasure more than made up for it. Cairo leaned down, pulling your head to her breasts and moaning. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, she gripped your shoulder, and the back of your head as you kissed her breasts and occasionally sucked her nipples. She felt good before, but now that she knew you loved her, now that you were no longer having sex as best friends, but as two people that loved one another, every touch felt more intense.

You held her hip with your free hand, your fingers occasionally slipping down to her ass as you guided her movement. “Wait,” she cried out. She was close, she was so close, but she wanted to have an orgasm with your cock inside her, and just like you promised you would you stopped completely, pulling your fingers out of her and completely halting everything you were doing. “I want your cock inside me,” she assured you before you could start worrying.

You nodded, flipping the two of you around once more. “It’ll be easier like this,” you told her as you brushed some of her bangs from her eyes and kissed her softly. You pulled a condom out of the pocket of your pants and opened it. “Just give me a moment,” you whispered in her ear, putting the condom on and just to make it as easy as it possibly could be, lubed it up.

Cairo moaned as you slowly pushed the head of your cock inside her while rubbing her clit. “I’ve got you, just relax,” you hugged her with your other arm and peppered her neck and shoulders with butterfly kisses as you pushed further inside.

“I know,” she hugged you back, pulled you closer to her and took several deep breaths as you pushed the last inch into her. “You got me,” she whispered, throwing her head back and taking a moment to adjust.

“Does it hurt?” you asked as you left kisses from her shoulder all the way to her lips.

“No, I just feel so full, just give me a moment,” she pulled you in for a kiss, her tongue slipping inside your mouth as she slowly pulled her hips back a bit and then pushed back against you. “Feels so good,” she moaned, encouraging you to slowly start moving as well.

She was tight, and her pussy was clenching around you so hard you knew you wouldn’t be able to last long, and you didn’t want to resort to thinking about anything else to stop yourself from cumming. Not when you were finally with Cairo. “I don’t think I’ll last long,” you told her as much.

“Me neither!” she cried out, her face twisting into an expression of pleasure as you gradually picked up the pace. “Just a bit more, Baby,” she encouraged you and you rubbed her clit harder, intent on making her cum first. Your efforts paid off as her back arched and she gasped, cumming with a near silent cry and pushing you over the edge as well.

You pulled out, shaky and out of breath, but satisfied as you kissed Cairo once more. “You have no idea how much I am going to kiss you from now on,” you chuckled, unable to get enough of her lips.

“Mhm, you better do some other things as well,” she pecked you on the lips, a bit too tired to do anything else.

You nodded, taking a deep breath and feeling your body relaxing as you helped Cairo calm down as well. “I’m going to go and get a bath ready for you,” you whispered, but just as you were about to pull away she reached up and grabbed your hand.

“For us,” she said with a smile on her face and you nodded.

“Right, for us,” you leaned down, kissing her softly once more before you headed to the bathroom to dispose of the condom and get a bath ready for you and Cairo.

[lixies-favorite-cookie]

doomsday ◦ h.j

—Sometimes doomsday wasn't the crumbling of a city; doomsday was an apocalypse of the mind

@anon im so glad you requested this bc I literally loved writing it so much like it fr had my creative juices FLOWING so feel free to request anytime babes

Paring ◦ Han x reader

Words ◦ 5231

Genre ◦ Hurt and comfort, ngl this angsty asf

Warnings ◦ han is a dick at the beginning but he is redeemed, panic attacks, language (like fr so many fucks in this its wild), talk about wasting your life, anxiety, fear, han is such a cunt at first its insane, not edited, uhhh I think that's it.

A/N ◦ This one is chaotic asf so if you don't like my chaotic writing this is definitely where you might wanna click off 💀ALSO IF YOU LIKED THIS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME like it literally doesn't have to be much you can just be like it was pretty cool

~CookieCreates🍪

Sometimes it felt like Han gave away the numbers of the clock like dollar bills, bartering off a life that only ever seemed to be rushing away like a river roaring down the rocks too fast. He scoops little moments out from the shimmering rapids, but time still trickles between his fingers; the hours melting together like wax dripping down the spindly hands, its bony fingers-

reaching

reaching

r e a c h i n g

out to him, pulling him into a pool at the bottom of his feet, a pool of glittering, glowing memories.

Is this all life is?

Working

Stressing

Never sleeping

Never eating

Is the praise worth it?

Those hopeless nights, endless days, tired eyes, and a mind made of mush—was it all worth it?

Was any of it worth it?

The roar of the crowds drowning out the sound of the seconds-

tick

tick

ticking away, the shuffle of the sand seeping into the bottom of the hourglass—he taps the crystal dome, wondering how much of it is left—wondering when it all will stop.

When he can stop.

Han was a fizzing bottle of soda—shook for too long—today was hard; every day before a comeback is: producing, singing, dancing, learning, watching, waiting-

Checking off boxes on a list that never ended, so when he finally walks into the door of your shared apartment, a room he feels like he hasn't seen in weeks, he doesn't really notice you anxiously sitting on the couch, your knees bouncing on the floor mindlessly-

snapping

snapping

snapping

on the linoleum, something so simple shouldn't set him off, sure, but the sound was so familiar—so scary—it vibrated in his head, booming in his brain seconds-

ticking

ticking

ticking away

your feet

snapping

snapping

snapping on the ground.

He comes home to get away from the world rushing out from under him, so why were you sitting there being so fucking-

“Hannie!” You beam, sprinting over to throw your arms around his neck, breathing his scent in. It feels like centuries since you've seen him last. You vibrate with nervous, excited energy, practically bouncing up and down; but the thing was, right now he didn't want to be touched.

He didn't want to be held

He didn't want to have to talk

He didn't want to have to remember he had a life outside of the bubble that was his work. It felt like he was tending to gardens he didn't know how to grow. Your relationship had already sprouted; the seed planted a while ago, but even though the delicate stages of its development had passed, that didn't mean that it still didn't have to be cared for, and right now, he didn't care about anything. 

It was selfish, sure, but when you've spent your whole life giving parts of yourself away, selfishness seems so easy, at least while you still have small slivers of your soul left. 

He grates his teeth, everything seeming so wholly overwhelming, the walls encapsulating him in an unbreakable hourglass. He was so stressed, so tired, so done, so trapped. His breath stutters when you squeeze him tighter, nuzzling your nose against his shirt, staring up at him expectantly, eyes shimmering. 

"I haven't hugged you in forever I missed your face" you giggle voice like clouds of cotton candy but not quite sweet enough to dull the sour feeling settling in his stomach

He knows that love should never feel this hard, but right now everything he did felt hard, and the way you stare at him so longingly like you're going to combust if he doesn't perform, put on a fake smile, and act like everything is okay makes him feel like a fizzing bottle of soda with a lid screwed on too tight, and when you grip him tighter, trying to push an answer out of him

He flips his lid. 

"Holy shit, y/n, do you have to be so bombarding?" He snaps, pushing your arms away from him, almost looking disgusted. Your smile slips, staring at him in shock, still not really registering what he said. 

He doesn't know what feels worse—the way your features tremble with hurt or the way he knows he doesn't care. 

"I'm tired; I just want to go to bed, okay, and you are immediately rushing me; every day as soon as I get through the door, it's exhausting."

"You can't be serious," you whisper, genuinely believing what you said. He couldn't be serious. There was no way in hell he really believed that, but it didn't matter if he believed it or not; it all still hurt the same.

He wishes he could overlook the flames that flare in your eyes, consuming the stars that always seemed to shimmer.

What did he just do?

He sighs, collapsing onto the couch, digging the palms of his hands into his drooping eyes. He was so scared; the fear loosing his lips and everybody knows words of fear are the greatest lies. 

"Yes, I'm serious. Do you know how much work you are? I work all day, work, work, work, work everybody needs me always wanting, always needing something, something, fucking something," he growls, smacking his hands against his thighs, thrown into an unexplainable rage. "And as soon as I get home, you need me too; everybody is so fucking needy." The next words he says feel like an earthquake erupted in your soul, splitting your heart in two. 

"Your so fuckin' needy."

You flutter your eyelashes shut, pushing back emotions that boil in your brain. There are so many feelings fighting for the light, but instead of screaming, crying, or lashing out, you take a deep breath and fold your arms, calmly asking 

"Then why don't you just break up with me then?" There is nothing more terrifying than a woman whose fire rages behind a veil of ice, but when he looks up, watching the flames wrap around your posture, wisping around every edge of your bones, and even with the ashes of the love you once had for him fluttering in the wind, he still opens his big, fat, fucking mouth. 

"Or maybe I should have just never asked you out in the first place." No sooner did he spit the sentence out, did he want to shove it right back in his mouth. Your shoulders droop, eyes filling with an almost impossible amount of pain.

The earth crumbles, the walls of your shared home collapsing around you, rubble lost in all the memories that flicker away like embers floating from the burning configuration that was your relationship. It was ironic how the world worked; it took years to build up the love you felt and only a single sentence to wash it all away. You never thought you would see armageddon, but when those letters left his lips, you quickly realized sometimes doomsday wasn't the crumbling of a city; doomsday was an apocalypse of the mind. 

"Okay," you croak, hot tears streaming down your face; a wobbly smile pulls at your lips almost out of habit, facial muscles forced out of memory. 

You have never once imagined yourself drowning under so many words left unsaid, sinking in the waves of tears you fought back, and as you trudged up the stairs, sinking into your bed, you wondered when you would hear the begrudging footsteps—the hesitant knocks. Wondered when you'd hear his soft apology—a voice racked with guilt—but your fantasy never came.

All you heard was the clicking of the clock behind you, counting down the hours where he disappointed you again and again

You don't know what got to you first—the peirce of realization that he didn't regret the bitter insults that left his lips so easily or when you saw the calendar that peaked from the corner of your closet-

5 days

5 days left unmarked

5 days left blank

5 days until you celebrated your 3 year anniversary

Han Jisung would never know you were counting down the days

Han should have runned after you, and in perspective, after a good night's sleep and a nice warm meal, he has never felt so completely stupid for not, but after you trudged up the stairs with a pained smile and glassy eyes, he was so starkly shocked he had said something so disgustingly distasteful his feet stuck to the ground, and finally, after hours of staring at the pool of time bubbling by his shoes, he drifted into a restless sleep. 

It was as though his terror tainted him, making the glassy parts of his heart dirty, and when he took the edge off, it was like a harsh wipe away at all the murk, revealing his jarring reflection in the pearly mirror.

He was such a jerk

He whimpers, running anxious fingers through his hair. He has no viable excuse, no good reason why he treated you so poorly—for someone so obsessed with time, he should know that you can't get your life back—can't turn the hands of the clock 

Push rewind

Hit replay

For what value would life be if you could just start it all over again? The impossibility made all the precious moments sweeter, but like every good thing, it made memories like these all the more foul.

You didn't deserve that

He didn't deserve you

and as you slink down the stairs, eyes red-rimmed and puffy. He can't stop that booming voice biting at the back of his brain.

How long will it take you before you realize that too?

You flick your gaze to him, burning with loathing cloaked behind layers of indifference. It floors him—those subtle signs of hatred that swim in the back of your eyelids, hidden in small twitches of your features, your almost tangibly cut off, throwing up your walls, shutting him out in more ways than one.

He had always worried about the gardens he was growing; flowers that sprung around him rapidly, fighting to figure out which one to water first, and all while your petals wilted and your roots curled up-

You waited

You watched as he bled himself dry. He shutters, everything bursting before his eyes—the love you once had for him flickering like the last flashes of a dying star. You're a million miles away, dancing on the craters of the moon, fluttering around the twinkling rings of Saturn. He folds himself deeper into the couch, almost hoping it will swallow him whole—pull him into the burning inferno beneath—even hell would be cooler than the fire that was your gaze.  Han Jisung never thought he'd see the day when the galaxy would collapse, but staring at you, flaring your final goodbyes, he realizes that doomsday was closer than he thought. 

"Baby," he whispers, his voice heavy with guilt, how easy it is to start a fire when you don't care about putting it out, but now that the wisps of flame consume you, he wishes he had never given you the kindling. 

You don't look at him as you walk around the kitchen, pouring a bowl of cereal. He stands up hesitantly, anguish feeling like an iron rod through his chest. He creeps into the kitchen, stepping lightly into the room like it's laced with landmines. 

"Please." His voice cracks—splits right down the middle, a perfect reflection of the cleave that was his soul. "I'm so sorry."

You place the cereal back in the cabinet and open the fridge to retrieve the milk.

The silence is deafening.

The all too familiar-

tick

tick

tick

of time trickling away rings in his ears

How much more of it does he have left?

How much more of this silence can he take?

You ignore him, strolling right past his trembling frame, racked with regret. It pulsates off his in palpable waves. You're so nonchalant so careless. He almost wants you to turn around and smack him, throw that stupid bowl of cereal in his face. Instead, you jog up the stairs, slamming the door behind you.

Is that the only door you shut?

Han had always thought of the apocalypse as an idea only found in novels, tucked away behind the pages of a book, hidden in the comfortable corner of science fiction, because that's all it was, right— fiction? But as your dead eyes scrape his figure up and down, he realizes that Doomsday wasn't really fiction at all. Just like the world wasn't always a place, sometimes the world was a person, and right now his world was ravaged by a deadly disease, an illness that only infected the soul, an illness only transferred through the careless bitter words found in the English language. Fire was nature's greatest purifier, and sure, the walls of the home he lived in weren't warped with flames of your fury, but the home he had made in your heart was 

It's been 3 days

3 days since he's felt the touch of another human. 

3 days since he made the biggest mistake of his lifetime.

3 days since he dropped a devasting bomb on your relationship, and the shrapnel was finally hitting him; curled pieces of cold metal lodged somewhere in between the folds of his soul. 

3 brutal bone-crushing days of pure ear-splitting silence—It was almost scientifically impossible, just how quiet you were. It was an art really, every brush of anguish accurately painted on—every ignored apology, every piercing glare, every single star that flickered out in your eyes. You were strategic, meticulous, you were plain vicious-

and you had every right to be.

You were fully justified in your actions, and yet he felt like he was still teetering over the edge of madness. The thought of losing you like a noose snaking around his neck, choking him in an unadulterated form of terror 

He has been stricken by anxiety his whole life, but the thought of a world without you filled him with an inexplicable amount of fear—the kind that burrows in your bones, decaying in your soul—the kind of terror that your still stuck digging from your skin for centuries to come—the kind of fear that makes you simply

panic.

His hands shake as he pushes the door open, feeling like he's walking into an open war. The pages of a dystopia form walls around him, caging him inside a bombarding capsule of storming English. 

The harsh contrast of the hurricane in his mind and the indifference in your eyes sends him reeling. You were lying on the couch, mindlessly flipping through the channels, not sparing him a glance.

You were so beautiful so breathtaking, but for once, he wasn't admiring your beauty.

He was

falling

apart. 

Oh, fuck, he was freaking out. 

He had finally caved under the pressure of always having to perform a false, flimsy smile, wobbling on his lips, pretending to be okay as he watched the life drain out of your eyes; the passion seeping from his songs.

He loved making music, but what is art without chaos?

What is beauty without love?

What is the world without you?

He always had to be perfect; he always had to be put together. He was always running on all cylinders, always hanging on by a fraying straining thread, and finally, it snapped. 

The earth is

t i l t i n g,

flipping around,

turning upside down, and

i n s i d e o u t.

Guilt rips through his chest, yanking out harsh bouts of oxygen from his constricting lungs. 

He can't breathe

He can't breathe

He can't breathe

He can't fucking

b

r

e

a

t

h

e

He was going to die-

He was going to collapse into himself, busting into a flaring supernova. 

He was going to be his own demise-

Forming his own doomsday-

He has never thought of himself as an author, but before he could stop his mouth from moving, he was already caged between the sentences of his own personal apocalypse, living a waking nightmare.

He created a story with his stupidity, and now he has to pay the price. 

He was the end of your relationship-

what has he done?

He can't b r e a t h e

"Y-Y/n I can't," he choked on his words, watching the walls wash away like watercolor dripping down the page. 

He can't lose you

He can't lose you

He can't lose you

He's going to die

He stumbles into the living room, tripping over his feet, his breath staggering in his throat. He catches himself on the arm of the couch, digging his nails into the soft leather, gripping it like it was his tether, keeping him from floating into space—burning up in the atmosphere, his body bouncing around the icy rocks. 

"Fuck," he gasps, squeezing his eyes shut and clawing at his chest, almost as if he scratches his skin hard enough, he can finally pull out the hourglass that keeps ticking his time away. His heart pounded wildly, almost begging to be free from the confines of his ribcage. The fact that it was still beating was beyond him. 

His heart only beats for you.

His heart will only ever beat for you.

How was he alive when you were drifting away? moon dust dancing in your lungs, would you become a ruler of the skies, while he was still stood still? 

"Han," your voice sounds like cotton candy kisses and honey dribbles. He never thought he would ever be so happy to hear somebody so alarmed, but right now that was the only thing keeping him from shattering. 

You jump up from the couch, your face pulled in concern. 

He doesn't deserve it

Doesn't deserve it

Doesn't deserve it

He's drowning in a pool of his self-inflicted sorrows. He's sinking, and the only thing that could save him was you. 

How do you save a man who won't take your hand?

"N-No, im okay," he barley pushes the words out, weaving between the thick lump that's forming in his throat. 

It was a lie

Everything was a lie

That's all he was

a liar

"Han," your voice is warm and inviting, sucking him in, wrapping around him like a blanket in the cold, a bowl of soup to a sick stomach. You healed him even when he was the one who created the wound. You pull him in, taking his trembling frame into your arms. Gentle fingers thread through his hair as soft lullabied wispers float through the air.

He feels so safe

So secure-

So loved-

He never thought he would feel the tenderness of your touch again, so when your comforting arms squeeze him right off the edge of destruction, 

He

c o l l a p s e s

crumbling into a million sobbing, sniveling pieces before you, he sinks to the ground, dragging you along with him. 

He always brought you down-

Always took you with him-

He was a disease-

An infection-

He was your armageddon

He sags against your body, limply moving like a rag doll. You let him curl into your chest, holding him like pieces of pierced punctuation. 

You guys were a shattered semicolon inverted and upside down. 

There was so much he wanted to say—so many apologies, so many explanations, so many different synonyms for sorry—but you didn't need them; you never needed them; you needed him, and there was nothing he could ever say that would change that. 

You hum, rubbing soothing circles on his back. You were always the perfect metaphor, a marveling form of pristine poetry. Your touch was like fleeting promises on the skin, the delicate tickle of a blooming flower, the comfortable heat of a burning star. You weren't just his world; you were his universe.

He pulls you closer to him, clinging like a desperate dying animal, nuzzling his face in your neck. 

"I'm so sorry, baby, I'm so fucking sorry!" He blubbers the sentences onto your skin, as though the deeper he burrows into your body, the faster they can travel to your heart. 

"Han," you lull, a small smile grazing your face, physically having to claw him off of you. He does begrudgingly, a minuscule whimper tumbling out of his throat from the lack of contact; he doesn't meet your eyes. He can't—not when the clock still ticks your time away, not when he's still not fully sure that you're willing to turn the hands back. 

He's devastated, his eyes red and puffy with tears that cascade down his cheeks, shining in the overhead light. 

"Please don't leave me." He sniffles, rubbing his nose against the fabric of his shirt, bottom lip trembling. "I don't want our time to run out. All my time is running out. Everything is running out. I can't, I-" he stutters, tripping over letters that latch onto his teeth like cactuses digging into his lips. 

You furrow your brows, tilting your head in sympathetic confusion. "What do you mean, baby?"

He screws his eyes shut, his hands shaking almost aggressively on his thighs. Why did he say anything? How does he explain something like that? He tries to form the words on his tongue, but they stick to the roof of his mouth like glue. Speaking it into the universe makes it so much more real, so much more raw, because now it isn't a metaphor, a fictional little whisper that fucks with his mind. 

The earth quivers in its orbit as he opens his mouth-

Was he really going to admit this?

Was he even ready to admit this?

"It feels like my life is running out," he stammers, the words tasting so sour on his tongue. "My life is so stressful; everybody always needs something from me, and sometimes it feels like I'm dishing out so many slivers of my soul that I don't even have any of it left." He lets out a shaky breath, attempting to get his heart rate somewhere that resembles normal. 

"I'm always up, always working, always doing something, and it's scary to think while I'm wasting my life working so hard doing something I don't really love." He aggressively wipes the tear that drops down his cheek with the palm of his hand. "It's so scary wondering if I'm ever making the right decisions." 

He feels so small under your gaze.

"A-And the other day was so hard," he cries, fresh waves of tears blurring his vision as he reminisces on the events. 

"Everybody was yelling at me, always needing something demanding so fucking much; they were playing puppet, forcing my hands in a way they didn't want to move; everybody was so just so needy-"

"And so was I," you whisper, filled with guilt. It breaks him. Your so understanding, so loving, so forgiving, so perfect. 

How did he even get you?

His heart wrenches as he dives into your arms-

"No, no, no, no," he shouts, shaking his head against your shirt. "No, love, you didn't do anything wrong; it was me. Me and my shitty mood—it was all my fault. I blew up at you. You were trying to be the amazing, loving girlfriend you are, and what I said was solely because of my fear. The exhaustion and anger didn't exactly help either"

"But there are no more buts," he pulls away, catching your eyes burning with sincerity. "There is no excuse for the way I treated you; there is no justification, just explanation."

You smile, tilting your head in adoration. You would be lying if you didn't say you were relieved, because you were.  You thought he believed the words he said—what feels like forever ago—that you were the annoying, needy girlfriend that only ever bugged him, but he didn't believe what he said. No, he was just a ticking time bomb waiting to blow—a ball of stressed and nervous energy channeled into the wrong source. 

"It's okay, Hannie, really, we're okay"

He was a supernova—a burning, bursting flame of bright, beautiful colors 

Han had once thought that the stars in your eyes had flickered away, but now he knows even the most enchanting things have to die before they can transform. 

He loves you.

He has loved you for 2 years and 363 days.

He will love you until the world goes up in flames. 

He will love you until the planet bleeds with the wounds of armageddon. 

"Does this mean we can still celebrate our 3-year anniversary?" He asks sheepishly, looking up at you through fluttering eyelashes. You perk up, visibly brightening. 

"You remembered!"

"I never forgot." he smiles, eyes shimmering with hope.

"I've been counting down the days," you grin.

"So have I," but he hasn't been counting down the days until you celebrate 3 beautiful years on this planet together. No, he's been counting down the days until his body slips into the grave, but as he presses his ear to your heart, it feels like the steady beats were a swelling symphony orchestrated just for him. He sighs contently, nuzzling deeper into your chest. The terrifying tick of the clock faded away, drowned out by the song of your soul whispering sweet promises into his ear. Sure, the fear still tickled the back of his brain, but instead of worrying that time was trickling away, he pulls you closer because with you, there was never a wasted moment. 

©CookieCreates (posted: July, 9th 2024) All rights reserved. Do not translate, copy, or claim my works as yours! I only post on this platform so if any of my works are elsewhere, report and notify me immediately

~cookie🍪

[bidisasterevankinard]

Fuck it Friday

I had inspiration for bucktommy date night where Buck is in a dress so here's more (who forgot/doesn't know how dress look under cut is the photo)

“What are you doing?” 

Evan raises his eyebrow with adorable head tilt and Tommy just smirks at him, when he drips the remains of a cocktail, the name he doesn’t remember, onto Evan's exposed neck, enjoying the way the drops flow closer to the neckline on his chest. Licking all the tracks from the skin with his tongue, Tommy revels in the sharp intake of breath and the way Evan's body shudders under his tongue. Tommy grins. Evan's skin smells like floral shower gel and a little sweat from being in a slightly stuffy room. This blend with tart-sweet alcohol turns Tommy's head better than rum and tequila in their cocktails.

“Enjoying my cocktail and my hot boyfriend. Two in one,” Tommy winks and Evan smiles at him. “Tell me more about cocktails and its history.”

Evan beams and pushes his body so now he sits on his lap, having easy access to his ear.

“The most expensive cocktail in the world costs $22,579.”

Tommy chokes on his beverage.

“Yeah, I had the same reaction. It’s a Diamonds Are Forever Martini at the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo. It’s made from vodka, lime juice, and a one carat diamond.”

“Will you make this at home for a cheaper price?” Tommy nuzzles Evan’s neck.

“When l will propose to you,” Evan nods.

“What if I do it first?”

“Then I’ll do it for our first night as husbands, before fucking you like a king.”

Tommy growls and grinds his again half hard cock into Evan’s perfect little ass.

“It’s a deal, baby,” he bites Evan’s earlobe. “Tell me more.”

“One last fact and we’re dancing, right?” 

Evan bats his eyelashes, pouting, and his blue eyes getting so adorably soft and pleading, that Tommy would kill a man or steal the moon if Evan just asked him like that.

God, this fucking kid. He can make a man do anything he wants with just his pretty face.

Np tagging @wikiangela @bewilderedbuckley @hippolotamus @diazsdimples @diazheartsbuckley @queerbuck @queerdiaz @watchyourbuck @epiphainie @evnnkinard @evansboyfriend @evanbi-ckley @eddiestummy @repressedqueen @rainbow-nerdss @rogerzsteven @racerchix21 @pirrusstuff @underwaterninja13 @saybiwithme @devirnis @lavenderleahy @loveyouanyway @monsterrae1 @cal-daisies-and-briars @buckera @bi-buckrights @bigfootsmom @bekkachaos @theotherbuckley @thewolvesof1998 @theweewooshow @eddiebabygirldiaz and you if you want to

[runnning-outof-time]

“them running their fingers through your hair” with Arthur if you feel inspired some time? no pressure🥰 your writing is so good!!

Hey there! Thanks so much for sending this in!! 🥰 I had a bunch of fun writing it! I flipped up the prompt a bit because I had this idea and wanted to run with it - I hope you don’t mind! I’ve been stuck with writing my other stories/requests so I was happy to have this to get the creative juices flowing. Enjoy!

After A Long Day

Arthur Shelby

Warnings: one bad word

(Y/N) comes up with the perfect solution when Arthur tells her that he’s had a stressful day.

“Arthur…? Arthur!” (Y/N) called out yet again, trying to get her husband to break out of the trance he’d been sitting in since he came home for the day.

“Hmm?” he asked, snapping from the staring contest he was having with the fireplace to look at his wife.

“What’s going on?” she responded with her own question, eyebrows raised in intrigue.

“Nothing, love,” he brushed her off with a slight wave of his hand, just barely raising it from the arm of the chair he was sitting on.

“Don’t ‘nothing, love’ me, Arthur. I know that there’s something bothering you,” she insisted, not allowing him to get out of the conversation that easily. “You’ve been staring at the fireplace for the last fifteen minutes, and you’ve not even asked about dinner…which is what really was the dead give-away. What’s going on?”

Arthur sighed, knowing that there was no easy way out of this conversation. He glanced at the fireplace once more, wondering maybe if he stared at it for long enough she’d forget about it. But he was able to feel her intense gaze on him, and that feeling grew with each second that passed. “It’s Tommy…”

“It’s always Tommy,” (Y/N) sighed before he could even finish his sentence.

Arthur shot a look in her direction, one that said ‘let me finish, please’, and she held her hands up in surrender before nodding ever so slightly. “Tommy’s got me runnin’ double with the new club in London, wantin’ me to be there while still taking charge of the Garrison and it’s been runnin’ me thin,” he explained his stresses to her, frustration evident in his tone.

(Y/N) nodded along with him, understanding the amount of responsibility on his plate. “I knew that London expansion wasn’t a good idea…all it did was make more work for you,” she sighed, shaking her head slightly.

“Everyone knew it except for Tommy…” Arthur trailed off with a sigh, “but Tommy’s the one who has final say, so we go where he tells us.”

“Maybe that shouldn’t be the case anymore,” (Y/N) suggested, making Arthur’s eyes snap over to her to see that she had her eyebrows raised with a pointed look on her face.

“You sayin’ shit like that’s not gonna help the equation or alleviate the stress I’m under,” he told her, trying to keep his voice leveled…he was already going through enough, he didn’t need the ‘anti-Tommy’s ideas’ talk added on top of it. “Tommy’s ideas are going to be final, so I need to…”

“Come here,” (Y/N) cut into his statement.

“Huh?” he stopped himself and looked over at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“I said come here,” she repeated herself, waving her hand to beckon him over. Arthur pursed his lips at her actions but listened, slowly standing from the chair he was on so that he could make his way over to her. “Now lay down,” she ordered him, gently patting her lap. Arthur, although still confused, listened to her and laid down on the couch, resting his head on her lap like she wanted him to. “There…isn’t that better?” she questioned, smiling down at him as she began to card her fingers through the longer strands of hair atop his head.

“It’s not bad…” he began, closing his eyes as the feeling of her fingers running through his hair began to relax him, “I just didn’t expect it.”

“It’s what you do to me when I’m going out of my mind, and it always helps to calm me down and take my mind off of the stress, so I figured it’d work on you, too,” she explained the reasoning behind her actions. Arthur said nothing in response to her statement, so she stopped what she was doing and glanced down at him. His relaxed expression made her giggle. “Did you hear what I said, Arthur?” she asked between his laughs.

“You said something about doin’ this a lot more from now on,” he answered her, not bothering to open his eyes as he spoke.

“Not quite,” she giggled at his response.

“Well I think you should,” he doubled down on his incorrect statement, opening his eyes to look at her as a grin formed on his face. “And I never said that you could stop,” he added.

This statement made (Y/N) laugh and roll her eyes, shaking her head as a smile formed on her face. “You’re so demanding,” she teased him, continuing with her previous actions anyway.

Arthur mumbled a thank you as he closed his eyes again, enjoying the feeling of her fingers carding through his hair. The stresses of the day were slowly fading away with each time she passed through. He now knew that this would be his go to to unwind after a long day.

———

Tagged: @the-anxious-youth @mgcldydrms @look-at-the-soul @mrsalwayswrite @julkaamazing @evita-shelby @lilyrachelcassidy @shelbydelrey @december16-1991 @onlydeadcells @peakyswritings @watercolorskyy @strayrockette @peakyduchesss @alexxavicry @stevie75 @dark-academia-slut @zablife @cillmequick @letal-y-poetica @depxiety @shelundeadxxxx @cilliansangel @areyenotfondofmelobster @just-a-blackhole @anotherblinder @christinasyellowflowers @insanitybyanothername @daisyblinder @wotcherpeak

MASTERLIST

[mjanelupinblack]

I don’t understand but I luv u (minghao x reader) PT1 ✨

Summary:

Where you are eternally in love with Minghao but your friendship with Mingyu prevents you from doing anything to have him.

Where a deep hole pierces your heart and there’s no way to fill it except for the touch of another lonely soul.

Pairings: Minghao x Reader / Mingyu x Reader (for now, this will get messy)

I

"Was it so difficult to stay quiet?" Mingyu complains, having run out of paper balls to throw. He's annoyed because, if it weren't for Hansol's suggestion, they could have left school ten minutes ago.

Mingyu is right, at least for the rest of my classmates who yawn and stretch in their seats, their school supplies put away, eager to go home. For me, those ten lost minutes are a free ticket to dream without restraint. Mingyu realizes this when I nod absentmindedly in response to his comment, completely unaware of what he said, as I'm more focused on the pristine strands of Minghao's golden hair. In the sapphire streaks that peek out amidst his straight hair, like a cascade of freshly cut lupines, fresh and ready to be arranged into a bouquet.

Minghao fixes a mischievous strand of hair and sighs, reclining in his seat with crossed arms. He appears attentive to Hansol's contributions until a wet paper ball hits his neck, and my heart skips a beat as he touches the spot.

He turns to smile at Mingyu, who doesn't respond to his friendly gesture. From that moment on, the world never returns to its course.

II

Mingyu and Minghao are friends. Not as close as to laugh together until their stomachs hurt or as loyal as to offer to catch a bullet with their chests for each other, but they exchange a word or two when necessary. They met at the beginning of high school, long before I entered the school to disrupt the already established dynamics of that classroom. It's not necessary to look closely to realize that they are very different, like the front and back of a coin, designed with their own peculiarities and destined never to meet. The sun and the moon. Heat and coolness. Mingyu's skin is chocolaty and melts with the warmth of his temperament. I've never touched Minghao's skin, but I imagine it shares the color and qualities of porcelain, like grabbing a snowball in your hands and trying to melt it with your body heat, but the snow is colder and ends up freezing your skin. Perhaps that's why interacting with Mingyu flows so naturally, like water, while just the sight of Minghao makes my teeth chatter and sends me seeking refuge by the fire.

I like his ethereal aura, like a dragonfly impossible to catch because his soul is free, and the wind supports it. So, all that's left is to watch him fly. Watch him touch the sky. Watch when I leave the classroom to go to the bathroom and casually pass by the practice room. I see him stretch his body like a dancer from those fairy tales. He seems even more flexible than them. Because Minghao is not from this world, but the world could be his.

"Are you coming?" Mingyu asks while Hao engages in a heated conversation with Wonwoo about why Tottenham Hotspur doesn't need Harry Kane to win.

Mingyu knows the answer to his question.

"Are you still afraid to share space with Minghao?" he insists. "He's human. Flesh and bone. He doesn't bite, unless..."

He mocks me. He refuses to let go of my infatuation with Hao, so he makes jokes, falls silent when they're not funny, and eventually changes the subject to avoid poking at the wound. He teases me about the blush on my cheeks. It's intense, like two freshly picked apples from a tree. He also teases me about my racing heart and my limited ability to take it out of my chest and carry it like an accessory in my hand.

For him, using his heart on his sleeve is so easy.

III

Gyu shares a peach with me that had been waiting its turn in his backpack among all the fruits. Flavors burst in our stomachs, like two hungry fugitives who devour and can't do anything else. Both of us have juices running down the corners of our mouths; juices that we absorb with our tongues and wipe away with the back of our hands. We end up with sticky fingers. He cleans one hand on his pants and offers me his earbud with the other to start our Friday afternoon ritual. I don't particularly like the song he plays, but I refrain from making comments as I gaze at the vastness of the sky. Not a single cloud disturbs its majesty. Only the seagulls do, gliding far away from our bench.

My eyes are tired. And my mind even more so because, every time I close my eyes, they replay the stretched silhouette of Minghao, as if trying to touch the ceiling with the tips of his fingers. His form seems to be carved on my eyelids. Engraved in every nook and cranny, despite the darkness. This time, I don't close my eyes, but the image presents itself to me almost as involuntarily as when I replay it in my head. Maybe because he is there this time, in reality. And from his lips, my name slips out with a sweetness like that of the peach I just nibbled.

"Wonu told me we're neighbors," he spits out what I've been hiding so easily, as if counting on with his fingers. "I wanted to offer to walk you home. To make it safer."

"Ha! Safer?" Mingyu asks. "She's a black belt in Jiujitsu."

Minghao seems surprised. Behind the clear glass of his glasses, he opens his eyes wide, as if asking me if it's true. An admiration I always longed to receive and that hurts even more deeply when it comes from him.

How much more interesting would it be if that were true, if I had already achieved the black belt a long time ago. How much more interesting would it be if I soared through the air and stretched myself like a fairy made of plastic bones. If I did things faster, if I didn't mind taking my time. If his kind gaze didn't terrify me and if words flowed like a river when he stood in fronto of me like a mountain.

Yes, we're neighbors. Yes, I would love for you to accompany me, and no, I'm not a black belt in Jiujitsu, but I would like to be one in another, more interesting life.

"We'll walk together after class," Mingyu replies because I'm frozen. He peels a mandarin without paying more attention to the matter. He didn't expect a different outcome. "Thanks for the offer."

Hao says goodbye. My mouth closes in an empty smile, licks the air, loses all its meaning after Hao leaves, and Mingyu changes the song to a more melodious one.

He seems at peace. Mingyu is the solace of silence; someone who speaks for you when your tongue is tied. He is the sigh of relief after smelling a vanilla-scented candle when you thought your lungs couldn't stretch any further.

He feels comfortable.

And Minghao walks down the street without a drop of tranquility to ease my thirst.

IV

We head to the arcade; a playground for kids, a step into the casino for young adults. There are machines that make noise, scream, and cry with something akin to fun. Fun and joy go hand in hand, but I'm not sure they're the same thing. As we enter, we find Wonu sitting in a flight simulator. He shoots innocent civilians who will respawn as soon as he drops the game and start playing Just Dance.

"Yah! We told you to wait for us at the entrance," Mingyu complains, grabbing the monstrous headphones surrounding Wonwoo's head and shouting right into his ears.

"Yah!" Wonu imitates him. He tries to save the game, but the civilians escape like cockroaches and a tank breaks one of his airplane’s wings. "I waited at the entrance for twenty minutes!"

Wonu tries to be aggressive, but his shouts don't even tickle Mingyu's ears.

"Well, we arrived five minutes late!"

A woman looks at them as a librarian would. She asks for silence with a furrowed brow, even though they're in the palace of teenage chaos. In fact, that's the bait. With her disdainful humor, she makes Gyu look her in the eyes, his eyes wandering on the curves of her mature body. I wonder if I look equally exposed, equally filled with lust when I watch Minghao's slender body stretch. Or maybe I put on the same long face as Wonu, humiliated and disappointed when Gyu leaves us to talk to the stranger.

"It's just you and me," I say, trying to cheer him up. "How about Just Dance?"

"She could literally kidnap him."

"Maybe Mario Kart?"

"How old do you think she is? Do you even think they let her in here?"

"We can play bowling, basketball..."

He condemns me with a murderous look. One that was originally created for Mingyu, the guy who breaks his heart in every chance he gets. Wonu notices his terrible way of confusing emotions; of always directing them to the wrong people, and his gaze softens.

"I feel like punching a wall."

"Well then, Street Fighter it is!"

We never talk about Wonwoo's feelings. Not because we don't try, but because every time we think about it, a strange phenomenon occurs; his face tenses up as if he can feel our thoughts like a cold breeze. When emotions are too strong, it's better to keep them locked up. To refuse to open the Pandora's box unless the other person approaches, pulling their demons by the tail. Otherwise, they often reject the help and mistake it for condescension.

Stubborn. That's a word that fits both of them like a glove.

We go from Street Fighter to Just Dance. I let Wonu be aggressive in the first one, winning without soul. After all, he'll be too distracted to beat me in Just Dance, and if the tiebreaker game is about physical skill, my body will be more activated than his, with adrenaline still coursing through my veins.

As expected, I win. Much to my chagrin, the third game is not about physical but mental skill. The claw machine stands before me like a monster.

"The first one to get a plushie wins."

"I don't have money to play this."

"I'll pay, are you scared?"

In fact, I'm scared. Not scared of losing per se; what I fear are the emotions that torment me after each failure. I know Wonu fears the same thing. Maybe that's why we can compete against each other. Because the loser limits himself to buy the ice cream and the rest of the ride proceeds in silence. No jokes. No teasing or stirring what doesn't need to be touched.

"You go first."

Wonwoo almost wins on his first try. I try and try, but the teddy bear, the caterpillar, and the penguin slip away from the claw. Half an hour goes by without either of us getting close to winning.

"I need to go to the restroom," Wonwoo announces.

"Don't cheat!" I shout as he leaves.

"How can I cheat from there?!"

I try to take a break. Then I realize how difficult it is to soothe a hungry spirit. I try to find logical combinations, intelligent ways to cheat, but nothing works. I end up leaning against the plushie machine, watching Gyu from a safe distance; the woman he spent the last hour with looks much younger under the new light. Different from the initial stupor. My friend is helping her redirect the bowling ball towards the pins, but there seems to be much more behind that innocent gesture.

I imagine myself being held the same way; firmly, embraced by strong and affectionate arms. I get lost in a daydream where my friend laughs in my ear, tickling my neck with his breath. I would never dare to flirt with Mingyu, but my chest begins to feel bland. I think Gyu has spent enough time with this girl whom he will never see again once he gets bored. Two hours earlier, he had his fingers in my mouth, feeding me tangerine slices as if I were a little bird in need of care. She will find something better. But what do I have?

"You should align the hook with that puppy's ear," a calm voice says.

"That's what I'm trying to do," I reply. "Do you mean this one?"

Minghao shakes his head. He approaches and taps the glass three times.

"This one here."

I'm still wearing my school uniform, sweating the same sweat I've been dripping for hours. In contrast, Minghao wears tight-fitting pants that cling to his skin. His scent is so strong that I hope the particles find their way into my body and imprint it forever.

I speak before thinking, and I realize that's the only thing that allowed my voice to remain steady.

Next step, Hao inserts a coin. His hair falls loose over his ears. He manipulates the claw machine and it obeys him as if he was God himself. The claw drops, rests on the puppy's hairy ear, and rises again. His once empty hands now hand me the plushie.

"Thank you," I manage to respond. I appreciate my upbringing's politeness.

"It's nothing. I saw you both struggling to get it."

"Yes... We were having a little competition, actually."

"For the plushie?"

I have a feeling that it finally happened. It happened, and I responded with the wrong thing because going to an arcade and having a competition to win a plushie from the claw machine is such a childish thing to do when you're seventeen. I reply with a yes; it was a competition for the plushie, and I hug the puppy as if Minghao were about to snatch it from my hands. As if it were a test, and I had failed.

"Then you won."

"No, he'll know you got it."

"I'll leave right away. And I won't say anything to him."

God sets the rules. He determines what's right and wrong, what should be said, and what should remain hidden. Now, he's playing the Devil's game, taking the same things he said were wrong and making them right.

"Were you expecting someone?" I ask, aware of the gradual but sure crumbling of my morality.

My question seems to be the equivalent of his statement. It bothers him because no one dares to ask questions to a God who doesn't have time to give answers.

"My partner."

"A man?"

Hao nods.

"Actually, it's just my date."

He glances at his watch and makes a gesture indicating it's time to go. Before his departure, I can already see him disappear; become transparent and revealing that everything was a projection of my most cherished desire until then: to have a conversation with him.

But the plushie remains heavy in my arms. And it looks at me with the vital gaze of a living creature.

When Wonwoo arrives, I hand him the puppy.

"I won," it hurts to say that. It's a lie, and I think my friend notices it.

[hannahssimblr]

Chapter Three (Part 2)

In the laundrette later on, as we wait for our clothes to finish their cycle, Claire holds my hand in hers. “There’s no pressure to do anything you don’t want to.” She says softly, and I know that among the whirr of the washing machines only I can hear her. “And if you ever want to back out of anything, I’ll be here for you.” She means well, but it sounds to me like she’s also more or less decided that I’m going to go and talk to Liam tonight. There is a rock in my stomach and I don’t feel like talking about this anymore. 

When our clothes are finished, we haul them back to the mobile home together and hang it all up on the washing line outside. I notice straight away that Kelly and Claires’ underwear is different from mine. Every pair of knickers that I pull out of the washing basket is small and sexy, all with lace trims in pretty feminine colours like pale pink and cream and lilac. My underwear comes from a multipack at the supermarket and every one of them has a childish little rosette on the front. I cringe as Kelly pulls an ancient pair of mine out of the pile. I’ve had them for way too long. They’re mint coloured with a frilly trim and a decal of The Little Mermaid on the side, and they look ridiculous on the line next to the lacy pairs that she owns. 

She pegs them up and then takes a step back to behold them. “Easy to tell who the virgin of the group is.” She says.

Later on in the pub by the quay, Kelly buys drinks for the table. She’s the only one of us girls who can, so we usually depend on her totally. We are perched on hard benches around an old wooden table; Kelly, Claire, Liam and me. He and I are sitting next to each other, and I’m trying not to look at him for too many long periods just in case he can somehow tell from looking in my eyes that we were talking about him earlier. 

Kelly has bought me a Malibu and pineapple juice. It’s my favourite, and it feels perfect for days on the beach like these. None of us have been up to sing karaoke yet, the night is young and I know that many more drinks will have to flow before we get to that point. Everyone is listening to Liam talk about his choices for college next year. 

“My first choice is agricultural and food sciences in UCD” He tells us “After that I put down business in GMIT and english and history in UL. I don’t know, I couldn’t really think of anything else. I don’t expect to get the highest points in the Leaving so… I suppose I’ll leave it to chance and take whatever I get.”

“Would you not do something related to the sea?” Claire wants to know. “Like, Ocean Science or whatever you call it. I feel like that’d suit you”

“Marine Sciences in Galway is over four-fifty points, I don’t think I’ll get that.” He thoughtfully takes a sip from his pint. “Sure I don’t know, we’ll see. Not long now until the results…” 

I shudder at the thought of doing my Leaving Cert. This will be me a year from now, papers all completed, living in limbo between exams and results, my whole future hinging on that one piece of paper. I can’t imagine how it must feel then, sitting there waiting for college offers to come in. Where will I be living in a month from then? What direction will my life be taking? I feel I would spontaneously combust with the pressure.

“Any of you thought about what you’d like to do after school?” Liam asks the table, and Kelly shrugs. “Haven’t thought about it. Nursing maybe.” She gestures to me before she drinks her vodka and blackcurrant. “Evie will do art “though. She’s great at drawing.”

Liam turns to me. “Really?” 

I shrug “I like drawing, I’m not really sure if i’m good though. Don’t know if I’d get into college with it.”

“Aw, I’d say you’re great.”

“She is great.” Claire chimes in “She’s always drawing in her sketchbook and I’ve sneaked a look at a couple of pages. Like when she draws something it really looks the way it looks in real life. You know what I mean?”

“I’m a terrible artist” says Liam “So I feel very impressed when someone can do it well. You should have brought your sketchbook to the pub! Could have done a drawing for us.”

I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t know, I think you’d be disappointed, I’m really not that good.”

“Would you say it’s like your dream job to be an artist?” 

“Maybe… ‘artist’ feels like such a broad term though. Like, best case scenario I’d like to be some kind of designer. I really haven’t put thought into it yet.” I shrug. “Something to think about next year I suppose.” 

“You’re already the best artist in our year.” Kelly says. You’ll get into any college you want to, just have confidence.” She’s fidgeting in her seat now and seems to be bored with the conversation. She turns around to look up at the karaoke booth. “Should I do a song, lads?” We tell her that she should, and without hesitation she marches to the top of the room to look through the booklet of songs. Claire has to go to the bathroom then too and bounces away, leaving Liam and I alone. 

“I think it’s really cool when someone knows what they want to do at college.” He says to me, continuing on from before “And I’m sure the girls are right, I bet you really are a good artist.”

I smile. “How would you know that?”

“You just seem like the kind of person, I don’t know how to explain it really. It’s like… it’s always the quiet girls who are secretly the best at things.”

“You might be wrong, I could be quiet and really crap at everything.”

“Definitely not true.”

“Hm.”

“You should bring your sketchbook with you the next time you pass by the surf shack. I’d really love to have a look at your drawings.” 

I nod, but I know that I’ll never do that. I imagine how it would go; me awkwardly interrupting Liam’s surf lessons with the children and shoving my dog-eared sketchbook in his face. ‘Look’ I’ll say ‘my sketches that you asked for, aren’t they good?’ I cringe so much at the imaginary scenario that I have to physically shake myself out of it. 

“Are you cold?” He asks me then, and I shake my head. “No, I just got a shiver up my spine.”

“My granny would say that means someone is talking about you.”  

“Trust me Liam, nobody is talking about me.” 

Prev // Next

[yourweeklydoseofanxiety]

Incorrect BNHA LOV quotes Featuring: Sarcastic Viewer!

______

Dabi: Just trust me.

Viewer: Last time you said that my apartment complex was reduced to ashes.

Dabi: Be happy you didn't die.

Viewer: At this point I wish I did.

______

Tomura: Oh. You're still alive.

Viewer, wrapped in bandages: Don't sound so disappointed, I might think you don't like me.

______

Kurogiri: Your arm is bleeding.

Viewer, letting blood drip on the floor out of spite: Oh really? I hadn't noticed that my blood was currently being used as floor cleaner as it flows from my gaping wound. Thanks for letting me know!

______

Viewer: Well. This is a nice change. of scenery!

Tomura: It's a prison cell.

Viewer: I was being sarcastic.

______

Dabi: I think I actually hate you.

Viewer; waving him off: Yeah. I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that.

______

Dabi; tired of their shit: Don't you have to be stupid somewhere else?

Viewer; irritated as all hell: Not till four.

______

Viewer; putting their coat on:

Spinner: Where are you going?

Viewer: Hell, most likely.

______

Dabi: I'll kill you.

Viewer; done with his edgy shit: If you want to seem threatening; don't go straight for death, describe how you're gonna torture me then the way you'd destroy all I loved and stood for.

______

Tomura: Go to hell.

Viewer: Tried that. Devil said I misbehaved too much.

Tomura: I am this close to dusting you.

Viewer: Do it. Pussy.

______

Random stranger: Um... Excuse me, are these guys bothering you?

Viewer; almost immediately: Yes.

Toga; in a panic: You know us!

Twice, in the process of panicking: Its true!

Viewer: Unfortunately

______

Mr. Compress: Smiles are congaguious!

Viewer: Don't worry, I'm vaccinated.

______

Magne: That's not funny.

Dabi; snickering: I thought it was.

Viewer: You don't count. You started laughing in the middle of a funeral home because you started thinking of a meme you saw on facebook!

Spinner: Who the fuck still uses facebook!?

______

Twice: Hold on, you DIED!

Viewer; holding an IV stand: Yeah, well it didn't stick!

______

Overhaul: Are you scared?

Viewer: No, I have this terrified look on my face 'cause I'm having so. Much. FUN.

______

Spinner: I.... is that blood?

Viewer; in a deadpan: No. It's Satan juice.

Spinner; concerned: What?...

Viewer: Of course, its blood jackass! Now come over here and help me move the body!

______

Kurogiri: Go on, apologize.

Toga: I'd like to apologize-

Viewer: Nuh uh.

Toga: The fuck you mean nuh uh?

Viewer: You want me to pretend getting stabbed never happened!

______

Viewer: I'm gonna need chicken blood, salt, five candles and a bottle of vodka.

Dabi: Vodka? For a spell?

Viewer; fed up: No. That's just to make me feel better after burning down that nursing home and making it look like an Eldrich cult!

______

Toga: Oh, look at all the pretties!

Viewer: Can you please stop taking about the knives the same way you talk about shoes?

______

Viewer: What's the word for that infestation of tiny creatures over there?

Kurogiri: Those are children. That's a school.

______

Spinner; laid back: It'll be easy! All you have to do is seduce them!

Viewer: Me? You're joking right? I'm about as seductive as a head of cabbage that was just tossed around like a socker ball!

______

Kurogiri; concerned: Viewer, where is your left shoe?

Viewer: The giant puddle down the street demanded a sacrifice.

[twistedtummies2]

Natural Predators (Trade; Implied Vore)

So...this is something a little different. I'm labeling this as "Implied Vore" because...no ACTUAL vore occurs. This was an interesting challenge: @hooter-n-company and I were chatting about an idea involving her OC boi, Taoka Latronis (who may be remembered as the antagonist of the four part story "Glamour"), encountering the Octavinelle Trio. Taoka, of course, is based on Tamatoa from "Moana," and is a crab person. I remind you that octopi and eels are very, VERY noteworthy predators of crabs. You can guess where the conversation went from there. ;) Anyway, the challenge of this was writing a story where the implications were there, and I could have fun with a lot of voracious TEASING...but to NOT actually include the act itself in any way, shape, or form. That, to me, sounded like something unique to attempt, and the concept of Taoka meeting these three scheming louses and the fun one could have with the issue was very appealing and funny to me. So, I agreed to write it, and sort of squeeeeeezed it in-between comms, since I didn't think it would be too taxing or take me too long. The story ended up almost 8000 words in length, which...is actually the cap I put on commissions, meaning it was QUITE long. Go figure. XD I finished it all in one day, which is very unusual for me. I usually don't get THAT much work done in just one day, so it shows how much juice there was flowing for this concept. ANYWAY...hope you all enjoy Taoka meeting three of his worst nightmares at Night Raven College. ;) P.S.: If you recognize the song Taoka sings at one point in the story...good. LOL

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A cheerful, peppy whistle came from a lone figure, who stalked through the unusually quiet halls of Octavinelle. The figure in question was a student of NRC…but closer inspection of the young man’s uniform quickly indicated he didn’t belong in the undersea dorm. The indigo-hued vest, accompanied by a red-and-indigo-striped arm ribbon, showed that he was a member of Pomefiore. The glamorous makeup, golden pieces of jewelry, and highly-stylized, strange purple hair, all certainly lent credence to his participation in a dorm largely devoted to fashion and spectacle. With that said, Taoka Latronis mostly felt quite at home in this dorm. He smiled as he peered out through the glass walls at the ocean beyond. While currently in his humanoid guise, the crab boy in disguise felt a certain familiar warmth in his chest as he gazed out at the vast expanse of coral. Unlike some decapods, he very much liked the water…but then again, just “some decapod” had never exactly described him, or so he proudly believed. “I could get used to bein’ around here,” mumbled Taoka, nodding to himself as he swaggered along with an easy-breezy sort of stride. The guitar case strapped to his back bounced slightly as he went. He felt his posture straighten with almost every step as he drew nearer and nearer to his chosen location. “Feels like I’m back on top o’ the food chain…right in my natural habitat…heh. Bet I could show some o’ the seafood here who’s boss, if given the chance…” The mention of the word “seafood” ushered a rumble from his belly. Taoka hummed to himself and licked his plump, painted lips, but soon shook his head, stance dipping as he glanced about carefully. Despite his egotistical words, he wasn’t TOTALLY comfortable here. After all…he wasn’t the apex predator in THIS dorm. It was a risk he felt willing to take, however. He’d only just recently escaped the time under house arrest that his dorm leader, Vil, had put him under, following the “Triple-S Debacle.” Now that he was free to go places, Taoka had decided it was time to take action in following his dreams and figuring out his personal desires and ambitions. In short…he needed a place to practice his music. Preferably, a place with an audience, where he could sing and/or play…and perhaps even make a little money on the side. Hey, money spoke to him…especially coins…shiny, beautiful, sparkling coins… Taoka had frozen in place at the thought, his eyes shimmering at the mere thought…then he smacked his cheek and blushed slightly, embarrassed with himself. “Keep it together, babe,” he muttered to himself. “Ya don’t wanna blow this audition. Wasn’t easy for the Housewarden to get it for ya…”

Indeed, it had been Vil who had - with surprising generosity - arranged the interview Taoka was heading to: the on-campus restaurant, the Mostro Lounge, had announced that it was going to be seeking performers for a live house band. Before this, all music at the Lounge simply came from the radio playing over the loudspeakers. Now, for at least some part of the day, there would be live musical accompaniment for diners to enjoy. Taoka had all but leapt at the chance…but had hesitated when he realized where the Lounge was. Surprisingly, Taoka had never come to Octavinelle before, let alone the Mostro Lounge. He didn’t know much about the place, except that it was supposed to be a very ritzy sort of joint. He had no idea who ran the restaurant…although he DID know who ran Octavinelle. For his fellow Pomefiore students, the shudder of fear that went through him at the thought of THEM was a total mystery…but anyone with knowledge of marine biology would probably guess the reason. “It’s alright,” Taoka said to himself, taking a deep breath as he came nearer and nearer to the famous place. “Just keep calm an’ show ‘em yer stuff. Long as THEY aren’t around, ya got nothin’ to fear. Heh…in fact, they oughta be afraid of YOU. That’s right, babe! You go in an’ show ‘em yer stuff…an’ if they don’t like it? Maybe ya got other ways of makin’ sure you see eye to eye…” Snickering with wicked anticipation, Taoka picked up his pace, adjusting the guitar case strap. It was only moments later that he finally found himself at the Lounge. Unlike the halls, the fine restaurant was packed full of chattering customers, all laughing and gabbing between bites of food and sips of fruity drinks. Chandeliers with lights shaped like jellyfish provided an almost ethereal illumination to the place, accompanied by the bioluminescent algae beyond the huge pane of glass on one of the walls, like a giant aquarium. Taoka whistled, impressed by the expertly-made, expensive-looking furnishings and rich decor. “Whew! This place is even fancier than I figured,” he chuckled. He sniffed at the air…and then let out what could only be described as a sort of wincing sigh as he picked up the scent of seafood and other savory things. His empty belly whined needily, and he gave it a pat, rubbing at it through his vest and shirt. “Easy there, stomach,” he almost pouted. “Yer gonna get plenty to play with soon enough. Business first.” Nodding to himself, Taoka stepped further into the Lounge, and looked around. It wasn’t long till he saw an employee - dressed in the almost mafia-esque costume of an Octavinelle Dorm Uniform - standing at the reception desk. However, they seemed to be a bit more concerned with the cellphone in their hands than with any new arrivals. Taoka smirked and approached the desk, knocking on it with his gloved hand. “Hey,” he grunted. “Eyes up here, babe.”

The receptionist yelped, fumbling with their phone and jolting slightly. Taoka’s smirk widened as his eyes narrowed; a quick look up and down the student’s form showed him the familiar sight of a seagull’s feathered tail, sprouting from the small of their back. The gull demi had a round face and a plump body, with eyes of a warm, rich, yellow-amber color; the sweet hue of honey. “Oh! Uh…h-hello there, sir,” the gull-demi chirped out, quickly trying to compose himself. “Welcome to the Mostro Lounge. Do you have a reservation?” Taoka hummed in the back of his throat as he leaned forward on the reception desk. The gull took a step back, tail twitching nervously. Taoka’s smirk became a full-on grin, as he noticed the way the little bird boy - about the same age as himself, but noticeably smaller in height - gazed at him with flustered apprehension. His belly rumbled yet again, this time in a lower, almost ominous fashion: while humans could not always recognize it, beast-people of all sorts seemed programmed to recognize their natural predators no matter what form they took. Sometimes it was a scent thing, other times a case of close observation, and still other times it just seemed to be an innate instinct. Either way…crabs like him and little, adorable gulls didn’t exactly get along. And the anxiety in the receptionist’s eyes indicated which side each occupied on the food web. “More of an appointment, really,” Taoka practically purred, his voice smooth and slippery. “Got a Taoka Latronis written down somewhere…” Taoka quickly glanced at the name tag the desk worker wore. “...Larin?” The gull boy - Larin - timidly moved to pick up a clipboard, and scanned through the papers it held. He looked up at Taoka a few times, worriedly; Taoka just smiled patiently. “It’s okay, babe,” he cooed at one point. “If there’s any vacancies…I could just stay for some lunch. I’m gettin’ REAL hungry…” He licked his teeth and cackled as Larin shuddered, the feathers of his tail shaking. Finally, the pudgy little gull found what he was looking for. “Ah! H-Here you are…you, um…y-you have a meeting with the boss, right?” “That’s about the size of it,” Taoka answered with a nod, and jabbed a thumb towards the guitar case on his back. “Lookin’ to become part of the house band I heard he’s making.” “W-Well…I’m sure you’ll do well,” chuckled Larin, with a nervous smile…then all but tip-toed out from behind the desk. Taoka watched every single move the little gull made as he came into full view, never once blinking, his smile remaining sly, seductive, and more than a little predatory. “If you’ll, um…j-just follow me, please.” “Mmmm…lead the way, babe,” rumbled Taoka, in his most sultry voice. He chortled darkly at the quiver that went through the demi-bird, and followed him as Larin led the crab-in-human’s-clothing through the dining area of the Lounge.

The restaurant was large, as well as presently busy; it was not a short trip from the main part of the place to the “backstage” spaces. Taoka twined his way between waiters and customers alike…a couple times, when he saw a particularly cute face, he would give them a light, playful bump with his hip. “Sorry, babe!” he would teasingly chirp, and grin as the human or lesser beastman in question would blush and grumble. Other times, he’d catch some giving him a blushing expression, or even a somewhat frightened look. Awink and a lick of the lips made them hastily avert their eyes, for one reason or another. When he wasn’t teasing the guests and waiting staff, Taoka was smirking at Larin, who kept glancing back over his shoulder, trembling slightly, his feathered tail twitching with every other step. He inhaled and rumbled at the scent of fear that came from the young seagull-man. As they left the crowded dining space, moving past the bar into the quieter, more sparsely-populated backrooms and hall, Taoka moved to stand beside Larin rather than directly behind him. He gave a smug sort of smile to the seagull, who glanced up at him nervously…just in time to see Taoka rubbing his belly, as it let out another greedy gurgle. “Do you all serve chicken here?” he asked, innocently. “I could really go for some poultry right about now…” Larin just whimpered and didn’t answer as he looked away. Taoka sniggered and smiled toothily. He didn’t ACTUALLY plan on eating Larin…at least not today…but, oh, how DELIGHTFUL it was watching him squirm… It wasn’t too long thereafter that they finally reached the entrance to the manager’s office. It was closed off by a large and rather fancy-looking door…par the course, at this point, Taoka supposed. “I’ll go in and announce you,” Larin said, trying to keep up a businesslike tone and demeanor. Taoka nodded, and patiently leaned back against the opposite wall. As Larin entered, he couldn’t help but allow a wicked thought to enter his mind; if the employees and guests of this place were sooo easy to ruffle the feathers of (pun only partially intended), he wondered if their leader would be equally easy to scare and subdue. Oh, he’d play nice, but if they showed any sign of turning him away…well…he WAS genuinely hungry. And humans were such, SUCH good little morsels… Taoka smacked his lips at that thought, but it left almost as soon as it came…at least partially due to Larin’s reappearance as he crept back into the hall from the door. “The boss will see you now,” he said. “Thanks, babe,” Taoka replied. Larin nodded back…then stiffened, his face turning a shade of strawberry as Latronis’ one good hand swept out and cupped his cheek and part of his jawline. The taller boy leaned in close, with a smile like a sea serpent. “Y’know, you’re pretty cute,” he crooned. “Maybe sometime you an’ I can…get some lunch together?” Larin looked utterly mortified…but he was also blushing more than ever. Unable to speak, he just sputtered. Taoka laughed lightly and playfully patted him on the head. “Think about it, chicken,” he teased with a wink, and left Larin to his own devices as he stepped through the doorway and closed it behind him.

Up to now, dearest reader, Taoka had felt confident, and very pleased with himself. He had little fear as he entered the office of the master of the Mostro Lounge. But there are many sayings about those who feel perhaps too much pride, and perhaps abuse their presumed position a bit too much. A lot of them could apply here. For within a matter of about…three seconds, give or take, after entering the office…EVERYTHING changed for Taoka Latronis. Instantly, his confidence seemed to drop into his feet, as a chill fell over his spine. His swaggering peacock posture slackened, and his vainglorious smile seemed to be slapped off his face by an invisible hand. All this was in response to the tall, willowy pair of figures he saw standing ahead of him, one on either side of the large, expensive-looking desk at the other end of the VIP Room. Each was dressed in a dorm uniform, and looked almost identical, from their mismatched eyes of gold and olive, to their teal-toned hairdos, each of which bore a single long, black lock. “You two?” murmured Taoka, voice becoming somewhat shaky. The Leech Twins smiled wider in response to Taoka’s near-whispered words; Jade’s was its usual practiced, patient, cool-and-collected self. Floyd’s grin, meanwhile, showed perhaps a few too many sharp, jagged, dagger-like teeth…teeth that, if they so chose, could easily crush and stab through a crab’s shell, shattering it like fragile glass. Taoka felt nervous in an instant. Perhaps more than anyone else at all of Night Raven, he had good reason to fear the Leech Brothers. Eels, after all, were one of the most prominent natural enemies many crabs had to face. They were part of why he avoided Octavinelle, and why he’d asked Vil to kindly handle arranging the interview…but if he’d known the Twins were working at the Lounge, he wouldn’t have even gone that far. Already, the musician felt his rung on the food chain ladder get lower…he was pondering if he really wanted to stay in the room, when the manager had such fearsome help… …But before he could question this too deeply, a voice finally spoke up. It was smooth and luxurious, but with a certain bold quality that was hard to define. It came from the figure who sat with his back to Taoka, in a large, plush-looking swivel armchair that was presently turned away from the young half-decapod. Over the top of the chair’s back - which, itself, was covered by what looked like a huge gray trenchcoat - Latronis could catch a glimpse of silvery hair. “Never mind them,” the voice from the chair said. “Come in…come in, Mr. Latronis! No need to be shy. After all, we mustn’t lurk in doorways. It’s rude. One can’t make business arrangements like this…” A slender hand, clad in what looked like a white kid glove, stretched out from behind the chair, dropping what appeared to be a manilla folder onto the desk behind the figure. It sat beside a dark-colored fedora. Then, the chair turned around, revealing the bespectacled figure - garbed in a black three-piece suit - who occupied the seat. Eyes the color of the deep blue sea itself zeroed in on Taoka, as a devious, duplicitous smile slid across soft, plump-looking lips, which quirked over a tiny birthmark near the chin. “...Without seeing each other face to face.”

Every drop of color seemed to drain from Taoka Latronis’ face as he immediately recognized the lithe, somewhat curvy person whom he now realized ran the Mostro Lounge. His heart seemed to jump up a few beats as his breath hitched. Every ounce of confidence he still held after seeing the Leech Twins vanished in a split second as terror gripped his very soul. “A-Azul…Ashengrotto?” he exclaimed, his voice unusually high-pitched as it cracked and squeaked. Azul merely smiled wider, folding his hands before him on his desk as he raised one eyebrow. “Yes, that would be me,” he replied. “And I’m glad to see my reputation precedes me.” “Ha Ha Ha! Little Crab Cake makes such silly sooouuunds!” sang out Floyd, grinning and giggling at the squeaky tone of Taoka’s voice. “He usually sounds all cool, but now he’s making noises like a scared flounder! It’s almost cuuuute!” “Now, now, Floyd,” tutted Jade, his own smile and posture completely unchanged. “We mustn’t tease a client. Especially not under such circumstances. I imagine he’s quite nervous enough, considering he’s in a room with three of his kind’s most dangerous and feared natural predators. We must make him feel comfortable. Isn’t that right, Azul?” “Of course,” purred Azul in reply, as he and Jade shared a rather sneaky look with each other. “Just like any client.” He then looked back at Taoka, who was still standing, with knees almost knocking together, near the doorway. “And you ARE a client, aren’t you, Mr. Latronis?” he crooned. Taoka had to repress the urge to let out a moaning, groaning sound of pure, ever-rising dread. Eels were bad enough company for a crab like him…but octopi? They were another story. Above all others in Night Raven College, the mere THOUGHT of the Octopus - of Azul - made Taoka Latronis whimper. In the wild, while crabs had several predators, few were as purely nightmarish as cephalopods: it wasn’t just that they ate crabs that made them frightening. It was the manners and the “morals” (one must note the quotation marks) that octopi had, when feasting on crustaceans, which made them so particularly horrible. Cecaelia like Azul were not much better…in fact, as they had humanoid intelligence, and not just animal hunting instincts, they were arguably even worse. “Helloooo?” Floyd’s voice cut through Taoka’s grim musings. He tilted his head, his smile disappearing as he blinked owlishly. “Ehhhh? What’s the matter, Crab Cake? Catfish got your tongue?” “Perhaps he’s simply speechless at being given the opportunity,” suggested Jade, oh-so-sweetly. Taoka just gulped nervously. “Y-Yeah, well…um…I…” His words failed him. They felt foreign and faint in his own mouth. Floyd’s smile returned and he heard Jade chuckle under his breath. Azul shook his head with apparent amusement, adjusting his glasses in his usual tic. “Come now, Mr. Latronis,” he soothed. “Compose yourself. You came here to audition, didn’t you?” “I…I did, yeah…just…j-just…” “Just what?” Taoka bit his lip before, in an unusually soft voice, admitting: “I didn’t…think I’d be…au-auditioning f-f-for…you.”

Azul blinked just once, cocking his head ever so slightly to the right. “I am the dorm leader of Octavinelle,” he reminded Taoka, in a calm, patient way. “Did you really think anybody else would be in charge of this place? Vil said you wanted to interview with the manager. I am the manager. And the owner. And the Housewarden. In short…no one else COULD be in charge.” Taoka blinked twice…then felt his cheeks heat up as he looked down almost guiltily at his shoes, and kicked at an invisible rock. “Y’know, in hindsight, that’s a good point,” he mumbled under his breath. All three of the Octavinelle trio laughed softly. Azul stretched out a hand, gesturing towards the large, well-cushioned sofas in the center of the room as he rose from his desk. "“Sit down,” he invited. Taoka paused only a moment longer, and then began to take a few steps forward…but on the third step, he saw Azul’s smile widen, and a flicker of what he swore could only be the look of someone who had successfully lured their prey into a trap flashed in those deep blue eyes. Something about that simple gesture IMMEDIATELY killed any amount of courage the crab had. “On second thought, I-I think I’m a little too early!” he suddenly blurted out, and spun around on his heel before briskly marching towards the door. “I’ll just c-come back later, I’m sure you’re very busy-YEEP!” Taoka froze and cowered as - seemingly out of nowhere - Floyd and Jade moved to block the door and bar his way. Each of the twins wore matching fanged smiles that made Taoka’s blood run cold…he felt goosebumps prickle his skin and began to tremble anew as he heard Jade’s stomach bubble, and saw Floyd’s tongue trace the tips of his pointed teeth… …Then the crab boy stiffened and flinched as a long, lean-but-well-toned arm draped itself across his shoulders. With obvious foreboding on his face, Taoka looked to see who the arm belonged to…and thought he might faint as he found Azul Ashengrotto’s smiling face only inches away from his own. “Nonsense, nonsense!” sang Azul, waving his other hand around in a flippant gesture. “I’m never too busy to discuss a potential new employee. And from what your Housewarden tells me, you could be a great…asset to me.” Taoka peeped as he felt Azul’s hip bump against him on those words. He’d teased enough “preythings” to know what that combo of words and gestures meant. “But…but…I’m not so sure that-” “Come,” Azul interrupted, in a firm voice, and Taoka felt the hand on his shoulder grip more tightly, hinting at the octopus’ harnessed strength…something very few at Night Raven ever suspected, given his aversion to great physical exertion. “Have a seat.” Azul thus led Taoka to the twin couches in the center of the office. The whole time, his smile never faded, and he never blinked, smiling at Taoka with a sort of thinly-veiled anticipation. Taoka gave a very, VERY nervous smile in return; already he could imagine that collected smirk transforming into a gaping set of jaws, ready to consume him, or a set of tentacles forming from where the octo-man’s legs were, ready to ensnare him…but such nightmarish imagery did not come to pass. Still, Taoka found it hard to relax, even as he sat on the (admittedly VERY nice and well-cushioned) sofa. Azul sat directly across from him, prim and proper. Taoka considered rising and trying to make another break for it…but he felt the presence of the Leech Twins behind him before he could act on it.

“Now then,” Azul began, crossing his arms over his chest and slinging one leg over the other as he leaned back in his own seat. “Is there anything you want to say before we start?” The question sounded a bit too much like Azul was asking him if he had any last words for Taoka’s personal comfort. Nevertheless, Taoka realized that there was no turning back now: he removed his guitar case and placed it on the seat beside him on the sofa. He was here for an audition, it was time to get serious. Still scared, the crabby youth tried to compose himself, straightening his posture and opening his mouth to speak…only to be interrupted when his stomach let out a VERY loud and greasy gurgle. Azul’s smile fell in an instant, his eyes widening. Now worried the sound would ruin the interview, Taoka’s nerves rang alarm bells…but before he could apologize, Floyd’s face suddenly lurched into view, as the gangly eel-man dropped his head onto the back of the couch, chin in his folded arms as he looked directly into the seated decapod’s purple eyes. “Awww…is Crab Cake hungryyyyy?” crooned Floyd. Breath that stank too much OF crab cakes puffed into Taoka’s face, making the musician cough briefly. Nervously, he nodded. Azul tutted and shook his head. “Oh, dear…I hate conducting business when my client has an empty stomach,” he declared, and smiled indulgently. “Would you care for a bite?” Taoka was very, VERY afraid of answering that question, with so many crab-munching creatures surrounding and smiling at him…but he finally managed to nod, tugging on his collar afterwards. Had it gotten warmer in this room…? “Ah…ha ha…i-if by that ya mean a totally normal, not-involving-my-shell kind of snack, then…I guess I wouldn’t mind,” he said. He tried to sound like he was joking, but somehow he knew he had failed. Azul let out a sort of scoffing laugh. “Of course,” he replied. He seemd almost offended. “Really, I’m not like those fuzzy mongrels in Savanaclaw. You don’t think I’d seriously consider taking a bite out of a possible employee, do you?” “Yeah! We just swallow them whole!” teased Floyd. “Floyd, don’t fib,” Jade scolded, but his own smile never disappeared once. “You know the rules: we don’t eat them till AFTER they fail an interview.” Taoka felt like his lungs were seizing up at those words. Azul just sighed and rolled his eyes, looking almost mournful. “Ignore them,” he advised, seriously. “They do this sort of thing ALL the time.” Taoka said nothing. He silently wondered if “interviewees” made it out of this office alive all the time, too.

“Jade, if you’re quite done terrorizing our guest and client, could you perhaps see about having some of the special served in here, along with an appropriate drink of choice.” “Will sparkling lemonade suffice?” Jade asked, politely. “Yes, that should do nicely,” Azul nodded, and smiled back at Taoka. “No objections?” “N-Nope! None here, um…boss. Uh, c-can I call you boss?” Azul narrowed his eyes and adjusted his glasses. It was hard to tell what he was thinking about that question. “I think, for now, you can simply call me Azul,” he replied, and then smiled. “After all, upperclassman or not, possible employer or not, we ARE both students of Night Raven College.” The fact Azul had not mentioned the fact he was a superior predator, as well, helped put Taoka a little more at ease. But only a little. Jade bowed to Azul respectfully, then turned to his brother. “Come on, Floyd. I’ll carry the food, you can carry the drinks.” “Ehhhh? Can’t you do it yourself?” pouted Floyd. “Yes, if necessary, but it’s much easier when there’s two,” Jade replied, as if he were speaking to a small child. “But I wanna stay and play with Crab Cake!” whined Floyd, and grinned at Taoka right afterwards. “Maybe I could give him a nice friendly squeeze, huuuuh? See if he’s easier to break in human form than in crab form? I bet he’d be all…CRUNCHY…” If Floyd’s words didn’t scare the Hades out of Taoka, the smile on his face certainly did…but it seemed Jade was in no mood for his brother’s nonsense as, without warning, he stretched out a hand and grabbed Floyd by the ear. “AH! H-HEY! HEY, LEMME GO!” squealed Floyd, scrabbling to break free. Jade just shook his head in amusement, and smiled a calm, tranquil smile as he bowed his head to Taoka, as if this was all totally casual and completely everyday. “Apologies for his forwardness,” he replied. “I’ll be back shortly with some vittles, as requested.” Taoka just blinked. “Uh…r-right, that’s…that’s good, thanks.” Jade smiled a tiny bit wider, then turned and dragged the still yelping and complaining Floyd out of the room, shutting the door to the VIP office behind them both.

Now, the crab was alone with the octopus. For a few moments there was an awkward silence between them. Azul smiled. Just smiled. Taoka noticed the way the restauranteur’s blue eyes seemed to scan up and down his own body. “Ah…m-may I ask you a question?” stammered Taoka, hoping to break the uncomfortable quiet. “If you feel you must,” replied Azul, somewhat cryptically. “How come you agreed to hear me out?” Taoka asked. “I mean…do you just trust Vil’s judgment that much?” “Well, yes, for one thing, I do,” Azul replied, frankly, folding his hands in his lap. “Not only do I consider him to be a particularly dependable and intelligent Housewarden, but I believe he is the single most discerning judge of talent, particularly where the arts are concerned, on the entire campus. The only other person who might rival him there is Professor Crewel. So if he takes the time to recommend someone, even obliquely, I listen.” Taoka nodded in understanding. He supposed all that sounded logical enough. “Besides,” Azul went on, quite casually, but with a smile that was perhaps just slightly too broad, “Based on his description, I could hardly let someone with such good taste go without a chance.” The crab-man quivered till his golden necklace rattled. He really didn’t like the way Azul emphasized three of those words. “Well…wh-what is that chance going to involve?” he asked at length. Azul paused, as if pondering how to answer…but before he could, the door opened up again. Jade and Floyd re-entered the office, one carrying a silver platter, and the other a pair of drinks.

“For your dining pleasure, gentlemen,” purred Jade, as he placed the platter in the center of the glass-topped table, and opened the lid, revealing a steaming dish of freshly-made shrimp scampi. “Yeah, yeah, here ya go,” grumbled Floyd, apparently still grouchy over his earlier treatment as he handed both Taoka and Azul their glasses of sparkling lemonade. He then plucked a couple pairs of chopsticks out of his pocket and gave them to each. Azul placed his chopsticks on the table…then removed one of his gloves, revealing his long, sturdy, yet elegant fingers. Taoka watched as Azul plucked one piece of shrimp up off the plate between his forefinger and thumb, and lifted it up to his face. He paused, smiling as he inspected the piece of seafood…before opening his mouth and tossing the entire shrimp inside. Taoka could hear the sound of Azul’s teeth mulching the cooked meat before a soft swallow sent the masticated stuff down his throat. “Excellent,” he judged, and wiped his fingers on a napkin before replacing the glove on his hand as he looked at the Leech Brothers. “Tell the cooks they’ve done a fine job, when we’re done here.” Jade bowed and murmured that it would be done. Floyd just snorted, placing his hands behind his head and rolling his eyes. “Go ahead,” Ashengrotto urged Latronis, who had watched all of this with rapt attention. He picked up his glass of lemonade as he spoke, tilting it towards Taoka as if in toast. “Try some. You can eat while I explain how this is going to work.” Taoka hesitated for just a moment; the food smelled delicious, but something about the showy way Azul had eaten his first bite had bothered him. Of course, if any of the three had wanted to poison him, it seemed unlikely they’d do so this way. So, he lifted his chopsticks and plucked a piece of shrimp from the scampi. He popped it into his mouth…and immediately felt some his tension ease up as he chewed and swallowed it. The savory, spicy, buttery seasoning filled his mouth with a wonderful flavor, and the shrimp itself was cooked to perfection, with an excellent texture. “Well?” asked Azul, as he took a sip of lemonade. “It’s…it’s REALLY good,” smiled Taoka, trying to hold back just how delicious he thought it all was. “I know,” smiled Azul, but he still seemed pleased to hear it. “Perhaps sometime we can give you a nice sampler; plenty of food to go with one of those.” “I doubt that would be such a good idea,” Jade spoke up. “The sampler does include crab meat.” “Ewww, that’d be like one of us eating smoked eel,” sneered Floyd. “And we all know eel tastes so much better raw,” grinned Jade, diabolically. “Huh?” Floyd blinked in confusion. “Nothing,” said Jade, innocently.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t be toooooo bad, either way,” shrugged Floyd, and grinned toothily. “I mean, crabs DO eat other crabs, yeeeaaah?” “Boys, as amusing as it is to hear you both go on like that, I think our guest is going to be ill if you keep that up,” drawled Azul. “Apologies,” said Jade. Floyd just yawned, boredly. Taoka swallowed his mouthful of shrimp and chased it down with some lemonade. The flavor of the citrus drink helped chase away his anxiety. “So…again, I have to ask, how is this going to work?” he inquired after a few bites of food, the emptiness in his belly replaced with a warm and filling feeling. Azul took another sip of his own drink before finally answering: “This audition will proceed more or less like a typical audition, I suppose: you will play and sing a song of your choice. I will listen, along with my friends here.” He indicated Floyd and Jade. “Once you have finished, I shall give you a brief critique of what I heard, and declare if you’re suitable for a role in the house band I want to put together,” Azul went on, lightly stirring his drink with a twist of his wrist. “If I decide that you are, then I’ll take you on here at the Lounge for three unpaid weeks. Got that? Three. Weeks. A ‘trial run,’ so to speak. And if, after those three weeks, I determine your skills are sufficient and the audiences like you, I’ll keep you on - paid work, this time - for the remainder of the semester and into the next term. After that, you would need to re-apply.” Taoka mumbled something through a full mouth and stuffed cheeks…then, when he saw the frowns on the trio’s faces, he realized he was talking with his mouth full and couldn’t be understood. He hastily swallowed, stifling a belch in one fist. “Ahem…that, uh…th-that sounds reasonable,” he said. He paused, then thought to ask, “What if I fail, at any point? Today or later on?” Azul shrugged, once again waving a hand about airily. “Oh, I just…throw a little salt on you, and then gobble you up! HA HA HA HA HA HA!” The head of Octavinelle exploded into cackling laughter…then stopped abruptly when he saw the look of absolute horror on Taoka’s face. His smile vanished and was replaced with an almost bored look. “I’m jesting, merely jesting.” “O-Oh. Right.” “It’s an audition. If you fail, you simply go back to your dorm room and have to find another avenue, like any other case such as this. As for the end of those three weeks, if you get them…” Azul smirked. “Well…we’ll worry about that if it even becomes a problem.”

“I see,” Taoka replied, and nodded in agreement. “Alright. I…I think all that sounds fair.” “Excellent,” Azul said, and put down his drink before snapping his fingers. A moment later, Jade and Floyd were suddenly sitting on either side of him on the couch; one sat straight and proper, while the other threw his heels up onto the table…at least until Azul coughed and ordered him to get them off. Floyd then rolled his eyes and obeyed. “As soon as you are ready,” Azul said, steepling his hands as he leaned back. “We’re all ears.” Taoka paused…then sighed through his nose. He had rather hoped he’d have more time to eat…but he guessed it was time to get down to business. His heart was still beating very quickly as he pulled his guitar out of its case and positioned it. He glanced repeatedly at the trio as he adjusted the strings. He had not felt this much pressure since his time onstage at the Triple-S…indeed, he wasn’t sure he had EVER felt this much pressure. Despite Azul’s words, the presence of the three higher predators made it harder for him to feel totally relaxed…and besides, just because AZUL claimed he wouldn’t do anything, that didn’t say anything about the Leech Twins. Whether he was playing for his life, or playing for a chance at a job, this was going to be perhaps the most important audition he’d ever tried. Nevertheless, as he got his guitar ready, Taoka plucked up his courage, and screwed it to the sticking place. He smiled his most daring smile at the trio, earning an arched eyebrow from each in the process. “Okay, gents,” he smirked, trying to sound his most confident, a cocksure twinkle returning to his eye as he let his mind sink into the world of his music. “Lemme lay somethin’ good on ya…” And without another word, Taoka strummed the guitar and began to play. The melody he played was strange and almost otherworldly; like something that came from the realm of the fae, or perhaps from the very depths of the ocean’s most mysterious fathoms…the music building up as he let it play on for a bit, eyes closed before he took a breath, and allowed the first lyrical notes to whisper forth, like a voice from beyond…

“It’s only forever…not long at all…lost and lonely…” Then, the music jumped into a higher gear; still mysterious, still strange, but with a certain adventurous pep, as the lyrics jumped to attention. Taoka’s voice was filled with a strange, contradictory tone: sympathetic, yet somehow mocking; not cruel, but playful… “No one can blame you, for walking away: with too much rejection, no love injection. Life can’t be easy; it’s not always swell.” His voice dropped an octave, with pain painting the words. “Don’t tell me ‘truth hurts,’ little girl…” He opened his eyes, looking down at his gloved hand. “...Because it hurts like Hell.” Then, a sly, slippery smile came to his face and he chuckled, closing his eyes once more. He shook his head to the beat as the song became slithery and inviting, almost hypnotic. “But down in the Underground, you’ll find someone true. Down in the Underground: a land serene, a crystal moon!” The smile became a grin as the music kicked up another notch, almost triumphant in nature. “Ah-ha! It’s only forever!” he almost laughed through the song. “That’s not long at all! Lost and lonely…that’s Underground! UNDERGROUND!” The final note echoed through the office…and finally, the song ended with a few last, haunting strums of the guitar. Taoka sighed…then looked towards his listeners expectantly. “Well?” he checked. “What didja think of that?”

Floyd and Jade’s eyes were very wide. They looked at each other…then back at Taoka…then grinned and applauded. “YAAAAY!” cheered Floyd. “That was short, but I was reeeeaaaaally feeling it, Crab Cake! More! I wanna hear more, c’moooon!” “An excellent display of your talent,” agreed Jade, quite serenely. “I think perhaps you could do well for the purpose of a house band. What do you think, Azul?” The player and the eel’s looked towards Azul. Taoka felt his smile falter. The octopus’ blue eyes were hidden by the glare of his glasses, making it hard to tell what he was thinking. A shadow seemed to have passed over him, which made Taoka’s anxiety kick up a notch. Finally, Azul inhaled through his nose, nostrils flaring…and applauded politely. “Very nicely sung,” he said, crisply. “I must admit, however, your guitar playing needs some work. ” “So I’ve been told,” mumbled Taoka, sourly, to himself. “Now, now, I don’t mean to say it’s bad,” smiled Azul, and his blue eyes were now visible as he leaned forward again. “But it sounded…a trifle forced, so to speak. Over-rehearsed. So much of the emotion that came from what you just gave me was gleamed from your vocals. Therefore, I think perhaps an instrumental role in the band is not for you.” Taoka felt his heart begin to sink…but that was before Azul continued speaking. “No. What I want from you is…your voice,” he almost hissed, seeming excited by the thought. “There is a dusky, smoky, yet absolutely golden quality to your singing that I think would suit the atmosphere of my Lounge just right. Especially if we give you the proper accompaniment and the best possible pieces. How would a position as the lead singer suit you?” Taoka’s heart leapt up again. His eyes widened…and an extremely wide smile stretched across his face. “The…the LEAD singer?” he checked…then, hearing his own voice break again, he immediately coughed and tried to cool down, lounging back easily in his seat and smirking it what he hoped was a nonchalant, barely-interested way. “Uh, I mean…yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a nice gig, babe. If ya think you can handle me in that role, heh heh…” Azul’s smile faded. “I think I can. But there is one condition.” “What’s that?” “Do NOT call me ‘babe.’” “Oh. Sorry. Uh…boss?” “Hmmm…boss will do,” smiled Azul, and stretched out a hand across the table. “Your trial run will begin a week from today. I’ll send you further information later, including the identities of your fellow band-mates. I imagine you’ll want to get in touch with them.” “That’d be helpful. Thanks, ba-er, boss.”

“Not at all,” Azul purred, and gave Taoka’s hand a firm squeeze before leaning in close. “Just be sure your voice remains as…appetizing to the ears as it is now, and I think there should be little trouble.” Taoka’s smile became more nervous and he nodded. He tried to pull his hand away…but Azul held it fast. The cephalo-man’s smile had become hard and sharp as a knife. “The time will be lunch hour,” he said. “I’d advise you to be punctual. Otherwise…perhaps I’ll make it into a lunch break.” Taoka gulped as Azul finally released his hand. He quickly stood up and gathered his guitar, putting it back in its case. “R-Right!” he said, and let out a somewhat hysterical little chuckle. “We-Well, uh…nice doin’ business with you all! And thanks so much!” “No thanks are necessary,” Azul said, and sipped his drink before adding, “It’s just what I do. It’s what I LIVE for: helping my fellow students, and especially underclassmen in need. As the guardian of the Sea Witch’s benevolent spirit, this is simply my way of bringing that spirit to life.” Taoka scratched the back of his head. “Right…well, uh…I guess that’s pretty nice of you.” “Yes, it is,” agreed Azul, then looked at the eels. “Now, boys? Please show him out.” Floyd and Jade got up from their seats and moved towards Taoka. Floyd gripped the demi-crab in disguise by the shoulders, and Taoka stiffened as he was then guided towards the door, which Jade opened in a courtly manner. “It was a pleasure to eat-I mean, meet you,” Jade said with a not-so-subtly teasing smile. “Make sure ya sing something super duper cool like that next time, Crab Cake!” Floyd grinned. “Don’t make me squeeze your shell off!” Before Taoka could respond to the teases, he was all but hurled out the door, stumbling as the office was shut and locked behind him. He blinked at the door…then took a deep breath, and sighed heavily, shaking his head as he hurriedly hustled back down the hall towards the main areas of the Mostro Lounge. “Never again,” he shuddered to himself, remembering those hungry stares and frightening words…but it wasn’t long till the fear left him, and a grin of purest, most delighted joy colored his face. He’d gotten the job. He’d gotten a position even better than he’d expected, in fact! He was going to be the LEAD SINGER. All the spotlight, all the attention, all the love…squarely on him and his shoulders. “I guess sometimes it’s worth taking risks,” he chuckled, and all but danced his way out of the Lounge, absolutely elated.

Even as Taoka left, however…back at the Lounge, Floyd and Jade were laughing. “AHHHH-HA-HA HA HA HA HA!” howled Floyd, clutching his chest with one hand and slapping his knee with the other. “D-Did you see his face? Did you see how SCARED he was! Awww, the poor wittle Krabby Patty, I just wanted to SQUISH him soooo much!”

“Perhaps we were a little TOO mischievous,” Jade suggested…but he clearly didn’t agree with his own sentiment, as he was stifling mad giggles between almost every word. “After all, we weren’t REALLY going to eat him.” Azul, who was still seated on the sofa, plucked a single piece of shrimp off the platter with his chopsticks. “No,” he murmured, as he inspected the piece of shrimp quietly. “No, you weren’t, were you?”

He popped the shrimp into his mouth and ate it up. As he did so, the Twins immediately stopped laughing and looked towards him. Neither had missed the word choices, nor the emphases Azul had. “Eh?” Floyd frowned, crinkling his nose. “What’re you saying it that creepy way for, huuuh?” “Creepy?” puffed Azul, indignantly. “Creepy? Me? Oh, please, I’m no worse than either of you.” “Whatever THAT means,” pouted Floyd, crossing his arms and sitting down on the opposite couch in a huff, like a sulking child. “I must admit, I’m a little surprised, Azul,” Jade said as he stood beside the same couch. “Surprised?” repeated Ashengrotto, as he took a drink of lemonade. “Well, you had said that you wanted to avoid choosing anyone without them showing proper experience onstage, before a crowd, or having any formal references,” Jade said. “Heeeey, that’s right!” Floyd realized. “In fact, I don’t think you even seemed interested until Betta Fishy toldja he was a crab!” “Well, after all,” said Azul, with a mask-like smile, “We undersea types have to stick together, regardless of dormitory boundaries.” The Twins looked skeptical. “Azul,” Jade finally asked, slowly. “Did you…agree to see him…BECAUSE he was a crab?” “I think that’s what I just implied, yes,” Azul replied, taking another sip of his drink. “That’s not what I mean,” said Jade. “I meant to ask, did you agree because he was a crab specifically, not merely a fellow ‘undersea type’?” Azul just gave a devious smile and adjusted his glasses, before lifting another piece of shrimp up. “Is that a yes? ‘Cause I don’t get it. What makes bein’ a crab so special?” Floyd frowned. “I mean, they’re just food for us, back in the ocean, aren’t they?” Azul once again said nothing. He simply popped the shrimp into his mouth and ate it. It took about ten seconds for realization to flow over the Leech Twins’ faces. “You weren’t just teasing, like we were,” Jade recognized. “He has three weeks to prove he’s worth being on my payroll,” Azul said, as if this were an obvious answer. “The way I see it, this is a win-win situation. For his part, he gets the experience and the spotlight he seems to crave. For my part, if he impresses me and our customers enough in that time, I get a good headliner for my house band. I also get a new connection to Pomefiore, and to Vil: something that could lead to some special reward. And of course, I get the credit for assisting an underclassmen in another dorm, who needed a helping tentacle.” He licked his lips subtly. “Otherwise, if he fails…well. Then I’ve earned three whole weeks of at least halfway-tolerable entertainment for my customers, all without needing to pay the lead singer a thing. And I think we all know he wouldn’t be the first student to go ‘mysteriously absent,’ the Headmage’s ‘special rules’ or not. After the disaster I heard happened at the Triple-S competition, it wouldn’t be hard to give an explanation for that absence, either, would it?” “Wow. You are…really despicable, when you wanna be, aren’tcha?” blinked Floyd. “That’s why you both stay around me,” Azul reminded him, and looked into his reflection in his glass of lemonade, a greedy glint in his eye. “Anyway, it’s time to get back to business. I want you both to start advertising the new entertainment more vigorously, and bring me people you think would serve his voice well with their talents. After all, we’re going to need more than a snack-I mean, singer, to provide a proper band.”

The End…?

[troublesjunkyard]

And Then There Were Five.

Chapter two: And Then There Were Five... Heroes?

Splinter was in his chair, and Kai was standing next to him. He wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but he was mildly amused by it. A movie– as they all called it– was playing on what Donnie had said was called a projector. Raph, Donnie, and Mickey had been mimicking the movie the whole time. And Leo– actually, now that Kai was thinking about it, he hadn’t seen Leo in a while.

“Where's our free grub, noodle man?” One of the humans– the bad guy– had asked.

Raph, who was in front of the screen, was mouthing the lines of Lou Jitsu. “Okay, ha. How ‘bout some… hot soup?” Raph then gripped Donnie’s and Mikey’s chests. The humans on screen yell as they are tossed, and Raph tosses his brothers, too. Both yell as they fall face-first into hot noodle soup. A noodle lands on Splinter’s face, and he eats it.

“Too spicy for you?” Lou Jitsu asked before he laughed. “Everyone’s a critic. Hm.”

“Man, ‘Teriyaki Shakedown’ always gets me so,” Donnie inhales sharply before finishing his sentence. “jazzed!”

“Yeah, Lou Jitsu’s the business!” Raph had cheered.

The remote goes flying through the air and hits Raph in the face, knocking him down.

“Then why do you insult the master with your poor technique?” Splinter leaps off of his chair, spins in the air, and smashes into all three of his sons. “Hot soup!” Splinter then stands up as turtles groan. “Do not worry. Someday you will be great ninjas with a little practice… is something I would say if I were a liar.”

Kai didn’t understand why Splinter had just said that. All five of them were literally made to fight in a war to kill off the human race. Sure, his brothers were a little clumsy and under-trained when it came to fighting, but given even time, they would make excellent fighters. Raph alone has the power to kill a human with or without battle skills. And Donnie could easily kill a human as well. Donnie– just like Raph– has the advantage of his bite force. And he could do a lot of damage with his, uh, tech, as he called it. And actually, Kai wouldn’t be surprised if Donnie has killed someone before.

“That’s nice of you to say, Pop, but I’m tired of practicing.” Mikey had whined.

Nice? Mikey thought that was nice? Kai isn't so sure that Mikey had heard Splinter correctly.

Raph finally stands up. “Yeah, we can be heroes like Lou Jitsu– like you, Pops!”

Splinter laughs. “Nice try.” Then he walks away.

“We got the skills, and we got the tight color-coordinated team looks.” Mikey chirped

Raph bumps fists with Mikey. “Let’s do it! Let’s go out and bust some bad guys!”

Donnie pops up in front of them with his tablet. “Yeah. I just feel like, you know, we need a case to get the juices flowing a little bit. You know, let’s see what the internet has to say about it, shall we…”

Leo hops up from behind the Splinter’s chair and then flops over the back of it. Where did he even come from?

"Yo, Leo, we’re gonna be heroes!" Mikey chirped happily.

Leo slithers down, so he’s on his back in the chair seat. “Okay, what’s the plan? Solve the city’s rat problem?”

Splinter’s tail flashes out and smacks Leo in the face, knocking him off the chair. “Hey, now. I am standing right here.”

Leo sits up, rubbing his head.

“Pfft, no way. We’re crime fighters!” Raph exclaimed.

Kai could see Splinter walking off again in his peripheral vision.

Donnie holds his tablet so the screen is visible. “Okay, check this out. The Spine-Breaking Bandits!”

Raph chuckles. “Yeah. Go big or go home!”

Leo slides in between Mikey and Donnie. “Yeah, go home on a stretcher. What else did you got?”

Kai was super confused. Spine-breaking bandits? And what was Leo even so worried about that? A human spine is very easy to snap if you know where to hit and how much force to use. But him and his brothers? Their spines were protected by their shell. And as mutants, they are naturally stronger than humans. It’s just not logical for some weak, petty human to be able to break their spines.

Donnie sweeps his finger across the tablet to bring up another screen. “Uh, okay, here’s something. The Long Island Mangler!”

Leo sets his hands on the screen. “Okay, Donnie. I appreciate you giving your best effort, but maybe we should save mangling and spine-breaking for, I don’t know, our second day?”

Leo’s brothers just stare at him for a second.

Donnie changes the screen again.” Mm, well, this one’s kind of lame. Someone stole paper from a delivery truck.”

Leo snatches the tablet out of Donnie’s hands and strikes a pose. “Not on my watch! That’s exactly the kind of junior-level mischief we can put an end to.”

“Really? That’ll make us heroes? But it’s only paper.” Raph asked.

Why did they want to be heroes anyway? Being a ‘hero’ meant fighting, and Kai really didn’t like fighting; he always hurt after fighting.

“It’s only paper?” Leo muttered before laughing and then speaking louder. “I’m so sorry. Donnie, what did he just say? Did he say it’s only paper?”

“Yup.”

“Did he say it’s only paper?”

“Yes, he did.”

“Okay!” Leo starts pacing in front of his brothers. “That’s what they all say. You think the road Hero Town is paved with real crime? No, It’s paved with the tears of the poor paper man. And who helps that guy? I’ll tell you who; we are who.”

“Yes!” Raph, Mikey, and Donnie cheered at once.

“I don’t understand.” Kai finally spoke and made his presence known. His brothers jumped when he started talking, which was stupid; he was here the whole time– and he wasn’t even invisible at any point. “Why help the humans over some paper? Paper is easy to obtain. It’s not our fault that the ‘paper man’ is too weak to defend his paper.”

“It’s not about the fact that paper is easy to get; it’s about the fact that someone is stealing it.” Mikey was the one to try and explain the situation to Kai. “Stealing is wrong, even if it is just paper.

“But what if you’re stealing to help someone? When I was little, and Draxum started feeding me less, Huginn and Muninn would sometimes steal food and give it to me without Draxum knowing.”

Kai’s brothers had gone quiet and just started staring at him. Had he said something wrong? After a moment of them just staring at him, Kai let out a confused chirp, and that was enough to get Mikey speaking again. “Well, in a way, you are right. It kinda depends on morals. Like stealing food is okay if you're doing it to feed the hungry. Though even then, stealing is still bad.”

This was confusing. “But why help the humans?”

“We know that you don’t really trust humans, but not all humans are bad. Remember April? She’s a human, and she’s not bad, right?” Leo was the one to speak up this time.

Right, April. She had left– with Mayhem– after all the commotion with introducing Kai to Splinter, and they hadn’t returned since. Kai supposed that April was bearable, but he still didn’t completely trust her. Though that didn’t matter, Kai had plenty of confidence that he could easily kill the human if she proved to be a threat, even with Mayhem guarding her. “She is… bearable.”

“See! You’ll be good friends in no time! Now, let’s go catch some paper thieves!”

…

….

……

The next thing Kai knew, all five of them were running across the city's rooftops. Kai’s brothers were all running on their feet alone like a human would; Kai kept on all fours. He was lower to the ground when running on all fours, so he was harder to spot than his brothers would be while running on their two feet like that. Kai’s scales and shell, being primarily black, also helped keep him hidden amongst the dark night sky. Kai was being extra cautious and was on high alert. There were a lot of humans down below, and Kai had never really been to the surface where the humans lived. He was on the surface for a short time when he left the Hidden City and went to the sewers where his brothers lived, but they didn’t encounter nearly as many humans as there were swarming in the streets below them.

~~~

Kai had also left the Hidden City once when he was little and had discovered one of the portals to the surface. That was the first and only time he did that. He had gotten lost on the surface, and Draxum had to come and find him. When Draxum finally found Kai Subject-5, he was mad– he wasn’t mad, he was livid– and punished S-5 for going to the surface; he didn’t get fed for a week and had to do extra training in the pit.

“You could have been killed!” Draxum yelled from his place atop the edge of the pit.

“But I wasn’t! I made sure to keep out of sight!” Subject-5 yelled as he dodged out of the way of a failed experiment– it was a ribbit-like creature with antlers, and it was two times bigger than S-5.

“And what if one of those humans had caught you and brought you back to one of their government labs!?”

S-5 just kept dodging and landing non-lethal blows. He didn’t want to kill the rabbit yet; killing it meant being done, and being done meant going back to his cell. “But they didn’t get me! They didn’t even know that I was there!”

“That is not the point! You are well-trained in battle, but you are not ready to fight the humans! You left to the surface alone! The humans will team up to overpower you! And they will not give up until you are dead or contained in a government lab!”

“I got lost, not captured!” The rabbit ran toward S-5, intending to hit him with its antlers. S-5 popped into his shell before the rabbit could hit him; then, he popped out of his shell and kicked the rabbit in the stomach from underneath it with enough force to send it across the pit and into the wall. Oops, S-5 didn’t mean to use that much force on his kick.

“And if you were lost, you wouldn’t have known where to go if you had been spotted! Nowhere is safe on the surface! Humans are everywhere!”

“But the books say that humans and yokai used to live together!” The rabbit was starting to tire; Subject-5 didn’t have long. “So why do I have to train to get rid of them!?”

“Because they chased us underground and have killed many of us! Those books no longer tell the truth, and that is all in the past! You are not to go to the surface again! Do you understand?”

“But I–”

“Do you understand?” Draxum cut S-5 off before he could argue any further.

S-5 dug his claws into the rabbit's neck, wrapped his tail around its neck just below his claws, and twisted. The momentum of the rabbit’s running, tied with the twisting movement from S-5, caused the rabbit to crash into the wall. Kai quickly sunk his teeth into the rabbit and tightened his grip on its neck with his tail. The rabbit screeched and roared as it struggled to breathe. A few minutes after the rabbit stilled and went limp, S-5 released it and got up, licking its blood off his beak. “Yes, Draxum, I understand.”

“Good. Huginn, Muninn, escort Subject-5 to its cell in the dungeon. They are to be punished for its behavior today.”

Huginn and Muninn looked at each other before flying off Draxum’s shoulders to escort S-5 to his cell.

The seven-year-old listened to Huginn and Muninn's voices getting further and further away until they were gone. S-5 continued to wait at the metal door for a few more minutes before crawling up in the corner of the cell on the one blanket that was there and cried oh so quietly. ‘Silence is a virtue.’ Draxum’s voice echoed in his head. Kai muffled a sad, desperate chirp that had slipped out of his beak. He didn’t need Draxum hearing him; that would only make things worse.

~~~

They finally stop on one of the rooftops, and Kai lets the memory fade away to the back of his mind. Donnie used his goggles to look around.

“What kind of weirdo steals paper?” Raph asked. Everyone had been relatively quiet on the way here.

“A dreamer.” Mikey chirped. “You look at a blank sheet and see nothing. They see possibilities.” Raph elbowed Mikey in the back, causing him to squeak at the force.

“There’s only one store they haven’t hit yet, and it is right over there, oh, convenient. Donnie informed them.

“How ‘bout we go stealth and make ‘em wish they stole toilet paper?” Raph suggested, and his brothers chuckled. Kai had stayed quiet, staying on all fours to be low to the ground. Kai still didn’t really understand why they were doing this, but Raph had just mentioned stealth, and Kai could do that.

“Okay.” Donnie answered for everyone.

Kai’s brothers leaped off the building and braced themselves suspended above the street between the two buildings; Kai stayed on the rooftop, watching carefully as the two humans with a foot painted on their faces and flames above their heads were walking with big stacks of paper.

Mikey lands on Raph’s shell, but Raph loses his grip on the walls and falls. “Whoa!”

A cat shrieks as it's startled by Raph and Mikey falling into the alleyway. Leo and Donnie jump down after their brothers. Both humans leap in opposite directions as turtles charge at them.

“You two go left.” Raph directed Leo and Donnie. “Mikey, go right. I’ll take the roof and swoop down like a boss!”

Leo and Donnie chase the Foot Lieutenant, and Mikey throws his kusari-fundo at the Foot Brute, but it wraps around a fire hydrant as the Brute rounds a corner.

Mikey goes flying around, still caught on the fire hydrant. “Whoa!"

Mikey smashes right into Leo and Donnie as they round the corner. They all groan as they lay in a pile.

“Where are they?” Mikey asked

“That is you, right?” Leo asked

Kai– now invisible– watches Raph jump off the top of a building directly above the rest of their brothers. “Swoopin’ like a boss!”

Leo starts waving his arms. “No, no, no!” Raph lands hard on all of them. “Ow!”

Kai’s brothers weren't very good at fighting, but that didn’t matter. He ran to the other side of the building, where he saw the two humans heading to a van. Kai let off a quiet growl before he leaped down from the roof and onto the smaller human.

“What the!?” The human yelled, confused as he was tackled to the ground but couldn’t see his opponent.

“There they are!” Raph shouted as he came into view.

“Wait a minute, where’s Kai?” Leo had asked.

The human struggled and yelled in pain as Kai bit into his shoulder and started to draw blood.

“He must be invisible!” Mikey pointed out as he saw the humans struggle.

“Hey!” The other, larger human shouted as he hit right where Kai was, knocking him off of the smaller human.

Kai dropped his invisibility and licked the human’s blood off his beak. “Lucky shot; that’s all that was.”

“Kai!” Mikey shouted. “Are you okay!?”

The sound of a screeching van goes down the street. The turtles watch as the van drives down the road with the back door open and paper flying all over. Kai hisses as the van disappears out of view.

“Uh, quick question. Did we seriously just get schooled by paper thieves?” Donnie asked.

“I don’t swoop like a boss. I swoop like a noob.” Raph said.

“Man, this seemed like a really cool idea until we didn’t succeed at it.” Mikey said with a sad chirp.

Leo stands up with his sword on his shoulder. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Where’d my brothers go?” Leo points at Mikey with the pommel of his sword. “Mikey, where’s your… legendary optimism?” Mikey groans as Leo turns to point at Raph. “Raph, where’s your, ya know, your go-getter attitude?” Leo grabs Raph by the shoulders and shakes him before walking over to Donnie. “And Donnie, where’s your… your thing, your– emotionless passion?”

Donnie has his Head down and speaks very quietly. “Here.”

“We can still catch these lame old paper crooks and be heroes!” Leo exclaimed.

“Yeah, that’s gonna be hard. This was the last paper store in town.”

“Hmm… Or was it?”

“Yeah, I… I literally just said that.”

“How do you plan on stopping them if you can’t even fight together without taking each other out?” Kai finally spoke up after he finished cleaning most of the blood off of him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, but if I recall correctly, you let them get away too!” Leo spat.

Kai growled at Leo, causing the turtle to sink a little into his shell. “You all took yourselves out! I at least managed to draw blood from one of the humans!”

Kai’s brothers all looked at each other.

“Anyway!” Leo broke the silence. “We just need to make our own paper shop and lure those flame heads to us!”

“That seems like a lot of work.” Kai said, watching Leo.

“Well, do you have a better idea?”

“Yeah, track them down.”

“And how would we do that, Kai?” Leo asked with a sarcastic voice.

“They left a trail for us.” Kai said as he pointed to the paper scattered in the road in a messy line.

“Uh, Kai. Not to be that guy, but you just pointed to a trail of paper. Paper, which weighs about 4.5 grams. The paper will just blow away in the wind, and the trail will disappear.” Donnie was the one to speak up this time.

“That doesn’t matter. We don’t need the paper to track them down. The paper is just a visual trail.”

“And how else would we track them?” Leo asked skeptically.

“Simple. I made that one human bleed so I can just track the smell of his blood.”

“Ohmigosh! That’s–” Mikey shivered, unable to complete his sentence.

“What?” Kai asked, watching Mikey.

“So you can track them just by the smell of their blood?” Leo asked.

“If I knew their scent well enough, I wouldn’t need the blood to track them. The blood is just easy to follow, especially since I’m still getting used to all the new scents and smells of the city.”

“So you’re basically like a tracking dog? Cool!”

“I am not a tracking dog, Leo. And you all could do this too if you actually learned how to filter out scents to track a specific scent.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Is that why I can always tell when vegetables and fruit are at their peak and are starting to go bad just by smelling them?” Mikey asked.

“Probably. You like to cook, and you often use your nose to gather the best ingredients. So you’ve probably trained yourself to filter out scents to tell if food is good and fresh or is going bad and rotting.”

“So cool!”

“Alright, fine. We’ll just track the flame heads down. It’s not like my idea was the greatest anyway.” Leo had muttered the last sentence.

…

….

……

“We’ve been walking for over an hour! And the paper trail has long since been gone!” Leo complained. “Are you sure you know where we’re going? And why are you walking like that?”

“Yes, Leo! I know where we’re going! I’m still on their scent! And I’m walking on all fours for a few reasons. One, it keeps me closer to the ground, so I’m harder to spot; and two, it’s making tracking them just that little bit easier.”

“Why are you so insistent on not being seen?” Mikey asked. “There's not even anyone around, and even if there was, you can just turn invisible.”

“One, my invisibility doesn’t last forever; two, if I went invisible, you wouldn’t be able to follow me. And why aren’t you guys worried about being spotted? Humans are dangerous.”

“Not all humans are dangerous, Kai.” Raph was the one to speak up this time. “We get that you were taught that all humans are bad, but that’s just not true. Yeah, some humans are bad, and most humans are scared of us and would totally flip if they saw us, but some humans are nice, just like April.”

Kai came to a stop and sat down, his tail curling around his ankle as it often did.

“Wait, why are you stopping?” Leo asked.

Kai pointed to a large ship resting at the docks. “There. That’s where our ‘paper thieves’ are.”

“And you’re sure?”

“Yes, I am sure. That is where they are.”

“Alright!” Raph said as he punched his fist into his hand. “Here’s the plan!”

…

….

……

They enter the ship through a small door. Raph rolls in first, thudding into a wall, then Leo cartwheels inside, and Raph rolls past him, slamming into something before rising. The turtles stare down through an open hatch into the ship's hull. Below them, the two humans stand amongst piles and piles of stolen paper. Leo leaps into the hull first.

“Okay, twerp and…” Leo started to talk as the rest of his brothers jumped down. Foot Lieutenant turns, and then Foot Brute. “surprisingly, big man. It’s five against two, so what say we just call it a day, right?

“Whoa! They’ve got footprints on their faces!” Mikey pointed to the humans as he said that.

“Uh, are those flames on their heads?” Raph asked.

“Feels like a real hazard for a paper thief.” Donnie mentioned.

“Wait, you guys are just now noticing this?” Kai asked.

“Well, sorry. We were caught up in the moment, Kai!” Leo defended.

“You! The Foot Brute yelled. “I’m gonna grind your bones with my fists.”

“Ooh, that’s inspired. We’re both gonna grind your bones.” The Foot Lieutenant exclaimed.

“Right. Listen, bubs. Before we put our footprints on your faces, we gotta ask, what’s with all the paper?" Raph asked

The Foot Lieutenant grabs a sheet of paper and quickly begins folding it. He finishes it and holds up a tiny paper ninja.

“Yay, arts and crafts!” Mikey chirped.

The Foot Lieutenant throws the paper ninja at them. It transforms in midair, becoming as large as Raph.

“Whoa!” Kai’s brothers all voice their surprise.

“Mystics!” Kai yelled.

“Mystics?” Leo repeated as the paper ninja charged at them, and he dodged out of the way.

“Yes, mystics! Like how you can portal or how I can turn invisible!”

“Huh?” Raph didn’t dodge in time, so the paper ninja slammed into Raph and sent him crashing into a wall, his shell leaving a sizable crater.

“Uh, hey, maybe we should fight now and register our amazement later?" Donnie said as he watched the paper ninja.

Leo rushes to the paper ninja and swipes at it with his sword, and it explodes into confetti.

“What?” Leo asked, confused.

The confetti landed on them, and they all started groaning and spitting and swinging their arms as the particles rained down on them.

“Ah, no!”

“Nasty!”

“It’s all in my mouth!”

“Ah!”

Kai’s brothers all voiced their disgust at once.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute! It’s just confetti!” Leo pointed out.

“Huh. Oh yeah.” Raph said in a much calmer voice.

“Paper viscera.” Donnie pointed out.

“Wait, where’s Kai?” Mikey asked.

As the two humans realized that they could only see four turtles, they panicked and looked frantically around in a vain attempt to find Kai. The Foot Lieutenant flails around as Kai grabs onto him.

“Oh no, you don’t!” The Foot Brute tried to punch Kai but only managed to punch the Foot Lieutenant since he couldn’t see Kai.

“Ow! Hit the turtle! Not me, you buffoon!”

“I can’t see him!”

The Foot Lieutenant twisted in an odd way before a sickening crack could be heard, and his arm bent too far in the wrong direction. “Aaaaaaaaah!” He screamed in pain.

“Ohmigosh!”

“Oh wow.”

“I was not expecting that.”

“Well, that just happened.”

Kai could only just barely hear his brothers over human’s scream of pain. Kai sunk his teeth into the Foot Lieutenant’s shoulder once more, drawing more blood. And again, like the fool he was, the Foot Brute tried to punch Kai but could only punch the Foot Lieutenant. He cried out in pain as he was slammed into the floor by the momentum of Kai leaping off of him and in front of his brothers. Kai dropped his invisibility and hissed at the two humans in warning.

“This isn’t over!” The Foot Brute yelled as a portal opened up, and he picked up the Foot Lieutenant to carry him through the portal.

“So… Does this count as a win?” Mikey asked.

“Well, I don’t know. Let’s think about it. Did the bad guys get their big supply of paper? Uh, no. Did they build their army of soldiers?” Leo laughed. “No. No, they didn’t. Are they otherwise thwarted, and we unscathed?”

“Yes!” Raph, Mikey, and Donnie all cheered at once.

“Hero mission accomplished, my friends!”

“Yeah!” They all shouted. Kai watched as his brothers started to wrestle with each other before collapsing on the ground in a pile, laughing.

“On another note, that may have been a bit too far, but you did good, Kai.” Leo looked at Kai. “Though maybe next time, we can work on getting less blood on you?”

“The human is lucky I gave them a broken bone and minor blood loss. I should have killed him.”

“We don’t kill people, Kai. That’s wrong.” Mikey stated. “But we’ll work on that.”

“Right. But for now, we should get back home. We– and more importantly, Kai– need a bath.” Raph was the one to speak up this time.

And with that said, the five turtles made their way back to the lair for a bath.

Oh, more lore from Kai! Nice. ( •̀ ω •́ )✧

But he seriously need some guidance before he snaps one day

*not foreshadowing things or so*

[banannabethchase]

The Cure for What You Crave - also on AO3

~

Claudio and Breeze are convinced they could outlast waiting to jump each other's bones.

~

This fic fought me and I have no idea why. It's in the same universe as You and Your Fantasy, but it's not necessary to read that before this one. Title of the fic from Breeze's indie theme titled, unsurprisingly, Breeze by Wrestle and Flow.

~

“Alright, Breeze got the win,” Claudio says, wincing as he picks up the lemon. “Let’s get this over with.”

Breeze leans back, grinning into the camera, arms behind his head. “Go ahead, boys. Suck it.”

“Can you never say that when you’re in that pose?” Cole says, looking miserable. “This – there’s a context there I don’t like.”

Breeze barks out a laugh, glancing up to see how Claudio responds in his little window. He’s shoved a lemon in his mouth, suffering in place of a reaction. Breeze gets it. Claudio always gets a little wild when he gets a chance to suck Breeze’s dick. Even the thought of it would probably throw him off.

“There we go, boys,” Breeze says. He can’t resist one more joke. It’s Claudio’s influence, after all. “Really go at it.”

“I genuinely think this is the worst loss for me,” Creed says, juice dripping all over his screwed up face. “Specifically because Breeze is saying weird stuff. I hate when you say weird stuff.”

He grins. “Well, then, don’t lose next time.”

“I’ll throttle you next time I see you,” Creed says, before diving in to take another bite of the lemon.

Claudio’s staring at the camera. Breeze knows it’s directed toward him, and it takes everything inside him not to shiver. “Alright,” Claudio says, looking surprisingly stoic. “I’m done.”

“Done,” Cole says. He looks to be in genuine pain. “I think that lemon was worse than last time.”

“Wasn’t the lemon,” Creed says, rocking and shaking his head. “It was Breeze being creepy.”

“It wasn’t creepy!” Breeze giggles. “I was making a joke.”

“A sex joke.”

“Claudio made a short dick joke about me a few weeks ago, and nobody said anything about that!”

“To be fair,” Claudio says, “you made the short joke. I just took it to its natural conclusion.”

Breeze rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I claim victory. Get ready to challenge me for my crown next week, boys.”

“I will,” Cole says. “I – I will beat you, then mock you as you eat lemons. And I’ll do all of that without doing a weird sex joke.”

Breeze shrugs. “Weird flex, but okay.” He disconnects the film and grins. “Later, boys.”

Claudio, like always, waits until he’s sure all the computers are shut down to walk downstairs. “You,” he says, “are somehow even worse today than when you lost.”

Breeze grins at him. “Oh no,” he says, spreading his legs. “You gonna fuck me about it like last time?”

Claudio bends over him, hands on the arms of Breeze’s gaming chair. “You would like that, wouldn’t you.” He brushes his lips along the shell of Breeze’s ear.

“Definitely,” Breeze breathes.

“You couldn’t go without it, could you.” Claudio pulls back, chuckling as he walks over to their couch. He sits, casually, like he didn’t just leave Breeze with a raging boner.

“Go without what?” Breeze asks, walking over to the couch. He sits, trying to get comfortable. It’s not easy with his shorts this tight.

“Sex,” Claudio says simply. “You couldn’t last a week.”

Breeze scoffs. “I could totally last longer than you.”

Claudio raises an eyebrow. “You could.”

Breeze nods, kicking his feet up on Claudio’s thighs. “Glad we agree.” He shoots a grin at Claudio as he gets comfortable.

Claudio rests his hands on Breeze’s calves. “I assure you, I was not agreeing,” he traces patterns into Breeze’s bare skin. “I was echoing to ensure I heard you say something that absurd.”

“You get on me, like, every time you come home from work or whatever,” Breeze scoffs. “You couldn’t resist if you tried.”

“Is that a challenge?” Claudio’s lips threaten a smile. Breeze wants to taste it. “You sure you want to challenge me?”

“I’m not,” Breeze says. “I’m stating a fact.”

Before Breeze can move, Claudio’s got him pinned to the couch, arms above his head. “A fact,” Claudio muses. “Look at you. You can’t stop looking at my mouth.” He glances down. “And you’re already getting hard.”

Breeze rolls his eyes. “I’ve been hard since you came downstairs. But I could take care of that on my own.”

“Wouldn’t that be breaking the rules?” Claudio leans down and Breeze has to fight his urge to lean up and catch his lips.

“Wouldn’t,” Breeze murmurs. “Whoever kisses the other first loses. Or touches the other’s dick.” He pauses. “Or ass! No groping me, buddy.”

“This is a challenge?” Claudio breathes.

“I have to,” Breeze says. “You goaded me. I can’t let you win.”

Claudio laughs, sending shivers through all of Breeze’s body. “When does the challenge start?”

“Um,” Breeze says, “tomorrow?” He tries not to sound too hopeful.

“We can start tomorrow,” Claudio says, sliding down the couch. “It wouldn’t be fair to you to make you start without warning, would it.” He winks up at Breeze as his fingertips hook into the waistband of his shorts.

Breeze thinks a blowjob from Claudio could solve, like, every problem in the world, as he shouts Claudio’s name a few minutes later. Claudio grabs him by the ass and bobs a few more times and that’s it. Breeze eagerly returns the favor, sloppy and excitable, and the two of them giggle in a pile on the couch. He loves this version of Claudio, the one he gets to see when they’re gaming or all over each other.

“So,” Claudio says, adjusting his sweatpants, “what are the rules?”

“No kissing, like I said,” Breeze says, sighing mournfully. “Except for the kisses at night. Like we always do.”

“Of course,” Claudio says, and Breeze sees him relax a little. He gathers Breeze up in his lap. “Can I have one more for the road?”

“One more?”

Claudio reaches up and tugs the hair tie from Breeze’s ponytail. “A kiss,” he says, sweetly. “Before we start.”

“Oh,” Breeze says. “Yeah, sure.”

It’s a kiss. Claudio kisses like it’s the last time they’ll do it, slow and thorough and he’s got his hands up the back of Breeze’s shirt. Breeze whimpers into it, trying to give back as good, but Claudio is insistent and demanding about it. Breeze squirms in closer, pressing himself to Claudio. If he were any younger, this would have gotten him going again and not in a way he’d be easy to handle.

He pulls back and rests his forehead against Claudio. “You weren’t kidding,” he mumbles, trying to get his breathing back under control.

“I want to ensure you remember what you’ll be denied until you break,” Claudio says, his hands grabbing at Breeze’s ass before dropping to the sides. “Alright then. I’m off to bed.”

“Okay,” Breeze says. He clears his throat. “I’ll be up soon. Gotta finish meal prepping.”

“Of course you do,” Claudio says, and his smile is so fond Breeze wants to throw the game right now. Claudio leans down and kisses his forehead. “I’ll see you in a few, darling.”

~

He makes it 3 days before he starts getting itchy about it. He realizes, quickly, that at the very least he’s gotten a kiss from Claudio every time they’re in the same time zone, multiple times a day. Real kisses, too, not like their quick bedtime routine. Now they’re close to each other, in the kitchen making coffee close to each other, and Breeze’s entire body is alight with the need to be even closer.

“Are you alright?” Claudio asks, taking a sip of his steaming cup with a knowledgeable smile. “You seem a bit antsy.”

“I’m fine,” Breeze retorts, and it’s too fast. He grabs the glass of ice and dumps it haphazardly into the cup of coffee and protein powder in front of him. “I’m, uh. I need caffeine. I’m low on caffeine.”

“That’s your second coffee,” Claudio muses. He takes another sip.

“Worry about yourself, Swiss,” Breeze grumbles into his drink.

“I don’t think I will,” Claudio says. He sets his coffee down and takes the cup out of Breeze’s hand.  Claudio crowds into Breeze’s space until his back hits the wall. He hasn’t been this hard without the promise of a good dicking down in ages, and Claudio being so close is almost enough to make him break.

“Come on, darling,” Claudio murmurs, lips so close and yet not close enough, “you know you want to break.”

“I might want to, but I won’t.” Breeze hopes speaking it into existence will make it true. “You’ll crack first.”

“You underestimate my will power,” Claudio says. He chuckles, and Breeze’s entire body is electrified.

“You under – shut up.” Words are surprisingly difficult right now, unfairly so, when Breeze has everything he wants in front of him but he can’t have it.

But, then again, what he really wants to do is win.

Gritting his teeth, he drops to the floor and scuttles out from underneath Claudio’s legs until he’s on the other side of the room. “You’re not getting me, Swiss,” Breeze says, as firmly as he can get it. “You and your stupid muscles and ass and whatever won’t beat me.”

~

He starts off small, the next day. He realizes the strategy here is to go absurdist with it. Claudio loves him when he’s batshit crazy. He won’t be able to resist.

“Hey, Claudio,” he calls. “You got any laundry? I’ve got a load going.”

He thinks he hears a snicker and then there are footsteps down the stairs. “Yeah, I have – I have…” He trails off. Perfect.

Breeze bends a little deeper over, so it’s basically just his ass and legs sticking out of the washing machine. “Dropped my phone,” he says, as casually as he can get it. He shuffles his hips so his already tiny shorts ride up a little more. He adds a little more dramatics, for the fun of it, and then slides out. He’s shirtless, too, and fights a smug grin as Claudio’s eyes rake his body. “What do you have?”

Claudio literally shakes his head to get out of wherever he went. “Right. I have some clothing.” He holds it up. “Gym gear, if you could throw it in.”

“Of course.” Breeze tries his best sultry smile as he takes the gear. “Anything for you, big guy.”

“Don’t start that,” Claudio says, almost a reprimand. Breeze’s smile shifts to a grin. He’s getting under Claudio’s skin.

He stretches out, a little awkward, but it’s a way that makes his pecs pop. “Start what?”

Claudio licks his lips. “You know exactly what you’re doing.”

Breeze shrugs, flexing. All the extra time in the gym getting his energy out has paid off, even if it’s only been six days. Not that anyone is counting. “And?” He wiggles his eyebrows. “It’s working, isn’t it?”

“It isn’t,” Claudio says.

“Methinks the Swissman doth protest too much,” Breeze says.

“It infuriates me that this is the first time I’ve ever heard you quote Shakespeare.”

“Shakespeare?” Breeze asks, fighting the urge to break and give it away. “I thought it was from a meme.”

Claudio’s eyes flash, and Breeze knows he’s gotten him where he wants him. He licks his lips for a little extra emphasis. It’s seconds before Claudio leans in. Maybe gropes him a little. He wouldn’t say no to getting railed on top of the washer.

“No,” Claudio says, stepping backward. “I know exactly what you are doing, you little menace. Absolutely not.” He blows Breeze a kiss and walks away. “I’ll speak to you when you know how to control yourself, Tyler.”

“Tough chance!” Breeze yells down the stairs.

~

He’s in the middle of dancing to one of his old theme songs in the shower when the door opens slowly. “Hey,” he says. “Trying to sneak a peek?”

Claudio closes the bathroom door behind him and, though the frosted glass and fog, he looks like some sort of god emerging from the edges of some lake. He’d been at TV tapings for the past few says, so it’s been a few days since they’ve seen each other and a full ten fucking days since they started doing this. Breeze really wishes he wasn’t so competitive, because all he wants is to get absolutely ruined by the Adonis in front of him. Alas, he will not go down without a fight.

“Oh, I see,” Breeze says. “You’re breaking. This is you forfeiting.” He pushes open the sliding door to the shower. “Go ahead. Kiss me or grab my dick. I get it. I’m irresistible.”

Claudio chuckles. “You do a terrible job of remaining stoic.”

“I am stoic,” Breeze says, but his confidence is starting to leak out of him like the birthday balloon in their bedroom. “You’re the one here to cave.”

“I am not,” Claudio says, tapping Breeze’s hip distinctly away from his ass or dick, “I’m here to help.”

“Help with what?” Breeze asks. “I can shower all by myself, buddy.”

“I’m sure you can,” Claudio says, and Breeze’s knees almost give out when he slides his fingers into Breeze’s hair and barely pulls. “But you prefer when I wash your hair, don’t you?”

Breeze fights a whine. “Sure,” he squeaks. “Uh, sure.” He remembers what he’s winning here: bragging rights. It’s worth more to him than anything he can imagine. “Go ahead.”

“I assure you,” Claudio says, and his fingertips are unfairly talented as they massage shampoo into Breeze’s scalp, “I will do nothing to impede my ability to win. This is purely a strategy to get you to break.”

“Good luck,” Breeze says, and he curses the way he sounds so breathy. “I’m iron, baby.”

“Yes,” Claudio says. “You are.”

“That was not a dick joke!” Breeze yells. “I – okay, you’re hard, too. If your dick hits my ass, you lose too, don’t you?”

“Fair point,” Claudio says. He yanks, a little harder, and the moan that leaves Breeze’s lips is entirely involuntary. “Hmm. I do have to say, I miss that sound.” He leans in, lips near Breeze’s ear. “Almost makes me want to fuck you.”

“Then fuck me,” Breeze says. He won’t break first. He won’t. “I’m right here.” He holds his breath. He tenses every muscle. He will not be the one to move.

“Alright then,” Claudio says. “I suppose the strategy failed. Dinner will be ready when you get downstairs, love.” He moves Breeze against the wall of the shower with two giant hands on his waist and walks out of the shower, dripping wet and –

Fuck, this is hard. Among other things.

Breeze gets off furiously and quickly, coming across the wall of the shower before Claudio could have even made it downstairs. He wishes it had been Claudio’s hand, or his mouth, or anything, but he didn’t lose, and that may be enough.

~

Breeze gets into position when he hears the key in the lock of the font. He bends over, pretending to reorganize the wires for his desk.

“What,” Claudio says, voice strangled, “are you wearing?”

“Oh, this?” Breeze asks, turning. “I wasn’t sure if these were yours or mine, and all my stuff is in the laundry. Is this okay?”

“Of course it’s mine.” Claudio’s starting to turn a little red. “Those pants are far too long on you, clearly. Take them off.”

“Alright.”

“No!” Claudio says. Too quickly. Breeze pauses midway through pushing the gear pants down his legs.

“Why not?” Breeze says, smiling up at Claudio. He teases down the waistband a little more, knowing his hipbones are starting to pop out. Claudio’s eyes flash down, then flick back up to Breeze’s face. He’s even redder. “Don’t you want your gear back? You seemed upset I’m wearing them.” He turns and shoves the waistband down so his ass pops out. “Better?”

“I – didn’t say I wanted you to take them off. I…” He trails off. “Fuck.”

Breeze can taste the victory as he flattens his hands against the wall and sticks his ass out. “Yeah?”

He’s waiting. And then he hears the door slam.

“What the fuck?” He pushes off the wall and pulls the gear pants back up. “Claudio?”

His phone vibrates on the coffee table and he picks it up to see a brand new text from Claudio.

You and your perfect ass in my clothes will not cause me to break, menace.

~

Breeze pauses in the doorway of their house, wondering if there’s a word for déjà vu on the other side. “What are you doing?”

“I felt the house needed some deep cleaning,” Claudio says. It takes Breeze a hundred hours before he processes the words. Claudio is sweaty and shirtless, holding up their couch with one arm and mopping underneath it with the other. The shorts are small, almost too tight, and they draw attention to Claudio’s thighs like his old trunks used to.

Breeze feels his entire body do a 180. He’d been pissed off and bitchy from the traffic, ready to storm in here and kill some people in Halo or something, but now…now he’s hard and obsessed and wiggling. “Do you think it looks good?”

Breeze glances around. He hasn’t noticed anything that needed to be cleaned. He had no idea. His eyes flash back onto Claudio’s glistening skin and bulging biceps. “What?”

“Are you alright, Tyler?” Claudio asks, and he can hear the tease in Claudio’s voice. Hell, he can taste it. “You look a bit red. Are you sick?”

“I – I’m –” Breeze strides past Claudio, throws open the door to the back patio, empties his pockets and hands onto a pool chair, and throws himself into the pool. He’s still in his clothes, sandals, hat. He doesn’t care.

He surfaces to see Claudio laughing hysterically, looking down at him.

“You will break soon, darling,” he sighs. He kneels down and blows a kiss to Breeze, who is still up to his shoulders in freezing cold water. “I can’t wait.”

~

Breeze knows that going on UpUpDownDown wearing Claudio’s BCC hat was a risk, company and all, but it is backward and you can’t read the label.

“That’s a choice,” Creed says, flicking the brim. “Upper management might kick your ass.”

“I’m fine,” Breeze says, flicking the concern away. “It’s a black hat from the back.”

Creed raises an eyebrow. “It is, but, like…” He stares at Breeze. “Are you doing this to mess with Claudio?”

“I do everything to mess with Claudio,” Breeze replies, and remains steady as Creed examines him.

“I won’t defend this to anyone,” Creed says. “Just want you to know that.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

They’re mid-stream when Claudio texts Breeze, Are you wearing my hat?

It’s a regular black cap. You’re a little obsessed.

I know it’s mine. It has the small bleach stain from painting the bathroom.

Does it?

I am going to ruin you.

Breeze grins his way through the rest of the stream. There’s no way Claudio makes his way through this without breaking.

He’s smug the whole way back home in the Lyfts, in the airport, on the plane. He swaggers into the house, ready to claim victory –

And almost combusts. It’s not fair he’s done this two times. It’s not fair Claudio gets to throw him off guard when he’s the one who wore Claudio’s stupid sex cult hat on his head during a stream for the opposite company.

“Is everything alright?” Claudio asks, and it’s absolutely a dick move that he’s doing one handed, sweaty pushups in the middle of the living room in nothing but a pair of shorts so small they have to be Breeze’s. He looks up on the push and waves with the hand behind his back.

It takes Breeze a second to realize the weird whining noise is coming from him.

Claudio jumps to his feet without an ounce of effort and walks toward Breeze. “You sound distressed,” he murmurs, brushing a thumb against Breeze’s lower lip. It’s a direct attack. Breeze can feel his resolve cracking under the pressure, a single, sharp-cornered line splitting off. He knows: one more hit and he’s done.

“You sound stupid,” Breeze retorts.

“Oh, now,” Claudio chuckles. “No I don’t. I can tell you’re about to break.” He settles a hand on Breeze’s waist. “Give in, love. Is winning really worth this torment?”

“Yes,” Breeze squeaks out. All he’s had in the past three weeks are kisses before bed, sweet and quick and chaste. Claudio has fought dirty with grazing touches, sweet nothings, things that aren’t technically groping but close enough to get Breeze’s dick hard.

“You wore my hat on WWE programming,” Claudio says. The world has zoned in to two places: his demanding, hard dick, and Claudio’s face. “You’re taking unreasonable risks, darling.”

“You’re doing pushups on the bare floor for god knows how long, waiting for me to get home,” Breeze says. “That’s risky. You could run out of energy. I could have found you moaning and in pain on the floor.”

Claudio all out laughs now. “Do you really think I could get that tired from pushups?”

Breeze swallows. “Probably?”

“Is that a question?”

“Are you a dick?”

“Are you asking for my dick?”

“Always,” Breeze scoffs.

“Alright then.” Claudio hauls him in and kisses him, and Breeze realizes what he’s done. He can’t even enjoy the kiss, has to pull back and look up, horrified, at Claudio.

“I didn’t break!” Breeze insists, head spinning. “I didn’t – you tricked me!”

“You asked for my dick,” Claudio says, grinning. “Isn’t that admitting failure?”

“It isn’t!” Breeze shakes his head. “It’s – you kissed me first. I didn’t kiss you.”

“You asked me to kiss you.”

“Did not!” Breeze says. “You asked if I wanted your dick, I said always, and then you kissed me.”

Claudio blinks. “Only because you asked.”

“I didn’t. I said always, but that wasn’t me saying I was caving in the moment.”

Claudio’s face begins to shift. “You lost. I won.”

“I think you lost, because you were trying so hard to trick me.” Breeze grins up at him. “I win because you fucked up!”

“That isn’t – well, we both get to have sex, so I suppose we both win, don’t we?”

“Not how it works, Swiss!” Bree bounces, giddy. He won. He beat Claudio, on a technicality, sure, but he beat Claudio. “You lost! You chugsed up a sex game!”

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring Cole up when we both have erections.”

Breeze shrugs. “Fair. Get on the couch.”

“On the couch,” Claudio says, nodding. “I see where you’re going.”

“Full circle, big guy.” He gets his clothes off and shoves down Claudio’s shorts. “Heh. Big guy.”

“Stop making sex jokes and get over here,” Claudio says. He rolls his eyes and sits down on the couch with his legs spread. Breeze looks for a moment, taking it in.

“So, um,” he says. “Since I win, do I get to decide anything?”

“Sure, as long as you decide to get over here.”

“Fair point.” Breeze throws his legs over Claudio’s hips, their cocks sliding together. They both moan. “Please tell me you still have that stupid storage container with the lube on the table.”

“Of course,” Claudio says, looking mildly affronted. “Frankly, I assumed you would have broken on the day I cleaned the living room, so I restocked that morning.” He leans over and grabs a bottle, wiggling it.

“And now I’m the one who won,” Breeze says. “God, does that sting? Does it make you –”

Claudio’s yanked him into a kiss, something almost punishing and beyond good. Breeze leans into it, arms around Claudio’s shoulders, desperate for more contact. They roll their hips, cocks sliding against each other, and Breeze thinks he could lose his resolve before he gets what he really wants. He pulls away, a little smug at the way Claudio tries to follow him.

“Get in me,” Breeze says, “now.”

“I can’t so soon,” Claudio says with sparkling eyes.

“Then – Jesus Christ, Swiss, stop it. You already lost. Get it together.”

“Careful, or I won’t let you come.”

Breeze scoffs. “Please. A light breeze could take me over the edge right now. It’s why I want you to fuck me now so I don’t lose it early like a seventeen year old.”

“Fine,” Claudio says. “Turn and stand.”

“What?”

“Turn and stand,” Claudio says. “I haven’t been allowed to touch you the way I want for days. I want to watch as I open you up.”

His breath shuddering, Breeze stands. Claudio knocks his legs apart.

“Hands braced on the coffee table, love,” Claudio directs.

Breeze does so, head swimming. The first stroke of Claudio’s hand down his crack sends his dick from hard to painfully hard, and he knows one touch in the right place would have him making an embarrassing mess across the table. “Faster, come on,” Breeze says through gritted teeth. “Don’t make me embarrass myself.”

The slick, blunt tip of a finger traces his hole, then another hand spreads his cheeks and squeezes. “How,” Claudio murmurs, “is every part of you so pretty.”

It’s a battle of wills inside Breeze’s head not to blow it right there, between his desperation to come and need to feel all of Claudio before this is over. “It’s my-my thing,” Breeze interrupts himself with a whimper as Claudio grazes over his prostate. He rolls his hips. “More, come on.”

“Pretty is your thing.” Claudio’s quiet, though, and meticulous. It feels like he’s dragging it out on purpose.

“Is this punishment because I called you out for losing?” Breeze asks. “Because that’s on you. You didn’t think through your idea. You had horny brain.”

“Perhaps I’m enjoying the view,” Claudio says, and he finally adds a second finger. It’s still not enough, not as thick or as satisfying as Claudio’s cock, but it’s close. “Sometimes I wish I could watch as I fucked you. See it all back.”

“I have said it before,” Breeze rolls his hips back more insistently, “all you gotta do is let me set up the gaming cameras, and we can record anything you want.”

“Perhaps next time,” Claudio says. His voice is deeper, a little rougher. “I’m unable wait the time necessary to set up.”

“Does that mean you’re gonna fuck me now?” Breeze asks.

Claudio yanks Breeze back. “I am.”

“Cool.” Breeze shifts and stands, turning so they’re face to face. “But like this. I want to be able to see you.” He smiles. “And kiss you, when I want.”

“It is impossible how you can go from horrible to sweet so quickly,” Claudio grumbles, but he assists Breeze in angling himself so the tip of Claudio’s cock teases at his hole. “Don’t go too fast, I don’t want you to hurt your –”

Breeze sinks down, stretch and fullness and right flooding his mind.

“You are,” Claudio says, “absolutely impossible.”

“Don’t see you complaining.”

Breeze leans forward and kisses Claudio, and they rock together. It’s electricity, fireworks, all those stupid jokes and metaphors Breeze has always found excessive. But it’s been long enough, or he loves Claudio enough, or he’s horny enough, that he sees it all making sense.

He mentions it to Claudio in one of their brief breaks in kissing. Claudio smiles at him. “Those, if I’m not mistaken, are your neurons firing.”

“So you’re literally blowing my mind,” Breeze says, shifting his angle so Claudio’s cock is dragging right up against his prostate. “Of course. Fuck. Even science says you’re perfect.”

“Who am I to argue with science?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Claudio wraps a huge hand around Breeze’s cock, stroking in time with Breeze’s rolls and his own thrusts, and Breeze gives up holding back.

“Fucking – love you, Swiss,” Breeze croaks. And then he comes between the two of them, making a mess on both of their bellies and chests. He feels marked with Claudio from every touch, and maybe it’s all fair that Breeze marks him a little too.”

“I love you, Tyler.” Claudio’s grip on Breeze’s hip is iron as he shoves up into Breeze one last time, and Breeze feels claimed. He drops his forehead against Claudio’s.

“Okay,” Breeze pants. “Okay, I agree. We both won.”

Claudio kisses his cheek. “Yes,” he murmurs, “we did.”

~

Mini Playlist: Breeze - Wrestle and Flow Clothes Off - Amiigos Touch Me - Katharine McPhee Animals - Maroon 5

[depressedhatakekakashi]

Any creative juices flowing for a fic about vampire kakashi and werewolf gai!!!!! I can’t get that au out of my head 😭

My creatives juices are almost always flowing, but i’ll be honest this is a hard one for me because i personally would switch the roles (Kakashi is a dog man. Literally he summon’s hounds. He’d be the werewolf for sure)

Kakashi has been alive for around five hundred years. He was bitten at age 31, taking the hit for a friend who had originally been targeted. It took him one hundred and fifty years to adjust, and if you ask him he’ll still say that he hasn’t fully accepted what he is now.

On the opposite side, Gai is born a werewolf. His father was bitten in a fight when he was younger so when he had Gai the gene was passed on. There was no adjustment period for Gai because he has been learning about how to care for himself and act since he was born. Because of this he seems a lot more confident in his existence than Kakashi, even though Kakashi has a few hundred years on him.

Gai is 26 when the two of them meet, and it’s not the most friendly meeting. Kakashi goes on the defensive as soon as he realizes Gai is a werewolf (which doesn’t take long because Gai doesn’t really try to hide it) but Gai is immediately trying to make friends because something about Kakashi intriques him.

Kakashi’s not that keen on making friends after his long life. He has had to bury far too many precious people and doesn’t want to open himself up to more pain when he inevitably loses someone else again. The problem is, Gai doesn’t take no for an answer so easily.

He follow’s Kakashi. Talks to him. Tries to make friends, and although Kakashi is trying to keep his distance and put up a wall he finds it difficult because Gai is nice.

Gai doesn’t want anything from him. He’s not one of those people who see’s a vampire and goes ‘oh sexy’ (which Kakashi has definitely dealt with and is already so tired of). He doesn’t seem to want to Kill Kakashi (he checked for wooden stakes and garlic.) and most importantly he doesn’t seem to really care that Kakashi is standoffish. He’s just there to have a good time and has decided that Kakashi is someone who’s company he can enjoy.

Still, Kakashi keeps the wall up for a while and tries so hard not to let Gai in. He tells himself not to go when Gai invites him out places, yet always finds himself hanging out with Gai against his better judgement and having a blast.

He tries to tell himself that this will end horridly, just as it always does, but Gai’s smile is intoxicating and his laugh is so beautiful. Kakashi can’t help but seek them out. To try his best to make Gai smile in his direction, or laugh beside him so he can enjoy a few blissful moments of happiness.

Kakashi has dog’s that guard his home. Eight that keep watch to ensure no one unwelcome enters. The first time Kakashi brings Gai home all eight of those dogs are on high alert

The second time he brings Gai home, all eight of them are swarming the two begging for pets and treats. It’s at that moment that Kakashi finds out Gai always has dog treats on him and has already begun spoiling the dogs.

Within a year Kakashi can safely say that Gai has become one of his best friends in his lifetime. He’s not sure why it was so easy for Gai to squirm his way into his life, but it was and now Kakashi would do anything to protect him. To hold onto him and his kindness for as long as possible.

Gai introduces Kakashi to tue idea of a rivalry. It starts off small at first, with Gai wanting to see what strengths and weakness’ the two of them have. As time goes on though it becomes a game to both of them. Something that brings a smile to both of their faces, though it’s hard to see on Kakashi’s because he’s always wearing a mask.

The mask is weird to Gai. He doesn’t understand why a vampire would cover their face, especially since it would be hard to feed when one has to take a mask off to do it. Kakashi shows him how quickly he can remove and replace his mask, but Gai still thinks it’s a hinderance, he’s not one to judge though and he will admit, the mask makes it easier for him to remember who Kakashi is.

Kakashi is a pretty well known dude around the area, though not everyone has clued into the fact that he is a vampire. He is surprisingly calm around human’s and can even keep himself calm and collected when he’s around an open wound. He has helped bandage people up before walking away to go scream at himself for wanting to bite someone while they are injured.

Kakashi has bitten people out of reflex to portect himself and it almost never ended well. All he wanted to do was get them to back off, but as soon as his teeth sank into their skin they were done for.

He keeps a collection of trinkets from each of the people he has killed. The majority of people are pretty shit excuses for human’s that almost no one misses, but some were just your regular joe who happened to upset Kakashi at a really bad time. Those people usually get the respect of a burial somewhere and their items returned to their family if Kakashi can find them. (He’s very sneaky so no one has ever seen him return the items)

Gai has bitten one person in his life and it was an accident. It was a kid (Lee) who he found being attacked by some bullies during a full moon. In an attempt to protect him, Gai placed himself over the kid and guarded him with his body. He was taking too many hits thought and knew he needed to make a run for it, so he tried to grab Lee by the scruff of the neck and carry him away

Human’s don’t have scruffs like pups or werewolves. Gai ended up biting him changing him into a werewolf. Once he’d realized ithis mistake he made a run for it and found a nice cave to hide in.

Lee has never held it against him and actually expresses gratitude to Gai for saving him. Something which Gai finds difficult to understand, but accepts regardless because he knows Lee is going to need to learn how to live his new life now and the person to teach him is Gai.

The first time Gai slept over at his place Kakashi tried to make a joke by putting one of the dog beds beside his bed. Problem was, Gai actually started to crawl into it. kakashi stopped him of course, but he never lived that mistake down.

Gai often expresses his regret of bitting Lee to Kakashi, and Kakashi is always there to listen. He doesn’t quite understand why Gai is so upset about it (he got a cool adopted son out of the deal and Lee survived. That’s a better track record than Kakashi has) but he can tell that Gai is genuinely upset and he wants to help him feel better in any ways that he can.

[sergeantsporks]

Sporks how do you keep to your alotted 'required writing time' you mentioned awhile ago?

I've been trying to do the same thing like an hour before my bedtime and out of the last 4 nights I've wanted to do so I've either said 'nevermind' or only wrote 30 minutes

Do you feel it out and see if you're up for it for the day, or are you stubborn about fully using that hour?

Yeah, so, it’s not a hard and fast “You must write during this time and do nothing else” for me, it’s more “This is the time we have set aside for writing, and thus, it is the preferred activity of this hour.” I picked an hour where I typically am liable to write anyway, and an hour where I’ve pretty much finished up anything else I need to do anyway, and ALSO the hour after I banish myself from social media for the anxiety (and therefore there is less to distract me) so that also works well for me.

Another thing for Write Time is that it’s not just that I have an hour of scheduled write time: it’s paired up with a writing goal. My goal is 200 words, and my bare minimum that I have to do is 100 words (barring days when I’m just so drop dead tired or, obviously, if I’m not at home).

Write Time is time set aside in my day to say “okay, if you didn’t get it done at some other point in the day, now is the time to reach your daily word goal.” Usually, if I can get to 100 words, the creative juices are now flowing, and getting to 200 is pretty easy. If I’m really excited about it, then I’ll even write the whole hour. That being said, Write Time is time allotted to reach my goal: if I’ve hit my daily minimum and still don’t feel like writing more , or if I did writing earlier in the day and have already hit my goal, then I don’t have to use Write Time to write. Forcing myself to write for an hour just won’t work. Even if I don’t allow myself to do something else, I’ll just stare at my blank screen. So... yeah, basically, I DON'T "keep" to my allotted write time, at least not totally and completely. It's about having the time set aside if I want to/if I haven't reached my goal more than mandatory writing. Would definitely suggest having a tangible goal you want to reach, rather than writing who knows how much in a set time. Just make sure it's a manageable goal for you; I used to do 500 words a day in high school. That's no longer feasible, so it's down to a goal of 200 words with a 100 minimum. Yours might be more words. Might be fewer. Don't set a goal you don't think you can consistently reach. Hope that helps!

[zeekerzzz]

Hello, welcome to my blog!1!!!1!!1!1!!11 X3

My name is AL, but I’m fine with anything adjacent to my username(zeeks, zeeker, ect ect); I’m a 24 year old digital artist, writer, musician and much more! Although I mostly reblog things, I’ll post my art or just my thoughts. My DMs are open, but please keep in mind that I am in a relationship, so nothing weird please!!💕

Feel more than free to DM me with art requests! I’m desperate these days for something to get the creative juices flowing lol :3 I can draw most animals, furry or feral, but I can’t promise if you ask me to draw a human it’s gonna turn out looking good.. :/

My Interests/Please Interact if You’re Interested in:

FURRIES!! Heavy on this

Warriors(book series)

Omori

Boyfriend to Death

Bojack Horseman

Chicago(The Musical)

Good Omens

Lurking for Love

Beastars

My Chemical Romance

Placebo(The Band)

Doki Doki Literature Club

DnD

Scene/scenecore

Welcome Home

Faith: The Unholy Trinity

Bluey

Melanie Martinez

John Doe(I’m unsure if anything else goes by this, so to clarify I mean John Doe the visual novel)

Inside Job💔

And pet/pup play shit🙏🏾

I know this is quite the long list, but it just broadens the horizons :3

Now for the easy part, though:

DNI:

Homophobes, Transphobes, xenophobes — every -phobe…..social distance from me🙏🏾

MAPs, “no contact” MAPS, pedophiles and zoophiles. You people are fucking disgusting and I want no part of what you’ve got going on.

Mysoginysts, I hope I spelled that right-

Furry haters

Racists

People who post exclusively/excessively about Queen(the band) and/or David Bowie or The Beatles

I think that’s all!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, have a great day/night!!! 💕💕💕

[skywriterjade]

I've decided to try something this year. I haven't seen one before so I am being the change I wanted in the world.

Ta-da! Introducing MDZS Junior Quartet December! I know it's cutting it close but oh well.

Just a few things before we start.

Whatever is done must revolve around at least one of the quartet.

You can do as many or as few of the days and prompts as you wish. This is simply a fun project to get the creative juices flowing.

While it would be great if the submission included the prompt in some way, by all means don't take them as a hard necessity. If the bunnies go galavanting yonder let them😂

All forms of fanworks(art, fics, edits, playlist, etc.) are welcome! Please just remember to tag mdzsjuniordecember or juniorquartetdecember when sharing.

Any pairings are allowed (yes that includes cross-gen and "problamatic" pairings), provided they involve at least one of the quartet but please tag appropriately. Non-romantic relationships are also welcome. (Hell, they're encouraged I'm a QPP sucker😅)

The same goes for NSFW content. Keep everything properly tagged and it'll be all good.

I'll put a list of the prompts below as well. For access and easy reading. Let me know if it needs adjusting. I hope everyone has fun!

MDZS Junior Quartet December

Day 1: Sweater Weather | Neighbour | Apology

Day 2: Cold Pond | Bunny | Race

Day 3: Hot Chocolate | Bracelet | Childhood

Day 4: Fight | Mall | Hair

Day 5: Mountain | Sweet Tooth | Faint

Day 6: Ribbon | Bull's Eye | Fire

Day 7: Modern AU

Day 8: Favourite | Swap | Cake

Day 9: Zizhen | River | Trust

Day 10: Jin Ling | Ice | Respect

Day 11: Jingyi | Silk | Chicken

Day 12: Sizhui | Forest | Loss

Day 13: Legends | Temple | Cart

Day 14: Role Swap

Day 15: Ghost | Ring | Lotus

Day 16: Flight | Ostracized | Secret

Day 17: Monster | Dream | Dark

Day 18: Whisper | Rose | Letter

Day 19: Fright | Eggnog | Koi

Day 20: Kiss | Red | Pet

Day 21: Folklore AU

Day 22: Reunion | Haunted | Lake

Day 23: Festive | Gift | Time

Day 24: Soup | Memories | Lights

Day 25: Family | Tradition | Spice

Day 26: Immortal | Paper | Cuddle

Day 27: Music | Night Hunt | Tea

Day 28: Future AU

Day 29: Fever | History | Cave

Day 30: Change | Poetry | Garden

Day 31: Journey | New Beginning | Home

[englishstrawbie]

For the lyric prompt thingie :)

"Used to wear my sadness like a choker, yeah, it had me by the throat. Tonight, I feel I'm draped in it like a loose garment: I just let it flow..."

Loose Garment by MUNA

Lucy/Kate

Lucy leaving her appointment with the Kahuna, maybe? Idk this one always gives me "breakup era Kacy" vibes.

Thank you for this prompt! It was interesting to get inside of Lucy's head in those sad and angst-filled days, when we're used to seeing them so happy right now. Quite the challenge and I enjoyed it! I hope I did it justice. 😊

A link to the song

>>>>>

It’s early afternoon when Lucy steps out of the small shack, the sun at its brightest and warming everything it touches. It wraps around her like a blanket and she is grateful for the comfort it brings. Today was her third session with the Kahuna, and she has found each one opening her up a little bit more. It is not easy for her and she is left feeling exposed, a vulnerability she doesn’t like and usually tries to avoid.

But not this time.

She would never tell Ernie this, but he was right about the Kahuna. Her visits to him have been positive and she is working through the grief she feels at the end of her relationship. At the way it ended, and how it was snatched from her just as she was falling in love. It took a while for her to lean into the Kahuna’s practices and she still finds some of what he says a little kooky, but he is slowly teaching her to embrace it all, to let herself feel sad and angry and heartbroken instead of burying it deep inside and pretending like it doesn’t matter.

Because it does matter.

Abandoning her car, Lucy wanders across the street towards the water. She has no intention of stepping foot on the sand, of course, but the beach will be busy, full of day trippers and holidaymakers, and she isn’t ready to go home to a silent apartment just yet. She grabs a cup of shaved ice from a nearby cart, choosing a pineapple topping – a subtle defiance to Kate’s dislike for the fruit – and finds an empty bench to sit on.

Leaning back, Lucy looks out across the water at the bodies swimming through the waves and the boards that bob up and down on the surf. She inhales deeply, taking in the smell of the sand and sea – familiar to anyone who lives on a tropical island, but stirring new memories now. Of being roused on a Saturday morning with salty kisses, of droplets of seawater falling onto her chest, of unwanted grains of sand making their way into the bed.

It causes Lucy to feel overwhelmed with a loneliness that threatens to bring tears to her eyes. She blinks them back, even though she knows the Kahuna would tell her to let them fall, because she’s still Lucy Tara and she isn’t someone who cries in public over a broken heart. She doesn’t fight the ache in her heart though, instead letting herself feel sad until it is ready to subside.

Her cup of shaved ice is starting to melt in the heat and Lucy takes a bite, enjoying the sweetness of the syrup. She still remembers the look on Kate’s face when she had presented her with breakfast, only to turn her nose up at the way the juice from the pineapple had – in Kate’s words – infected all the other fruits and pastries on the plate. She still remembers the way Kate had tipped her head back and laughed when Lucy had pointed out that this is why it pays to make too much food for breakfast, because at least she’d have options.

God, she misses that laugh and the way Kate’s face lights up when she smiles.

Lucy hasn’t seen her since her apology in the bullpen and she is pretty sure that Kate is avoiding coming by, despite being the FBI’s NCIS liaison. She sometimes finds herself listening out for the sound of clipped heels on the hard floor or waiting for the waft of floral perfume that gives away her presence – disappointed when it doesn’t come. She berates herself for craving her company, tells herself it makes her weak, but the Kahuna is teaching her that it is okay to miss her and that forgiveness is the first step towards healing.

She wants to heal.

With the sun getting stronger, Lucy wipes her brow and stands up, throwing her empty cup into the nearby trashcan and heading to her car. It is like she is on autopilot as she drives the familiar coastal road to the tall apartment block that she knows so well. She pulls into an empty parking space outside and takes the elevator to the twelfth floor.

Pausing outside the door, her bravery wavers a little, but she forces herself to lift her hand and knock sharply three times.

There is a patter of bare feet on hard wooden floors and the click of the lock, and she braces herself as the door opens.

“Lucy.” Kate’s voice is full of surprise and she shakes her head, confused. “What are you doing here?”

“I forgive you,” Lucy says, the words falling from her mouth before she can stop them.

Kate stares at her, dumbfounded at her unexpected visit, and Lucy feels the need to fill the silence.

“You said you were sorry and I… I forgive you,” Lucy says.

With those three words, she feels some of the weight of her grief lift: the first step to healing.

“You do?”

Lucy nods. “I don’t wanna be mad any more, it’s too hard,” she admits. “And we still have to work together, right?”

Kate smiles – a quick upturn of lips that never reaches her eyes, which have always given away everything she is feeling. There is an awkwardness between them that Lucy wishes wasn’t there but she can’t bring herself to let down all the walls she has built up since the last time she was at this door. It is going to take a lot more sessions with the Kahuna before she is able to do that.

“Well, I should go,” Lucy says. “I guess I’ll see you at Pearl?”

“Yeah, I need to stop by and see Tennant on Monday,” Kate says.

Monday. At least Lucy will be prepared when she shows up.

She turns and starts to walk towards the elevator, pausing when Kate calls out her name.

‘Don’t say it,’ she thinks to herself. She remembers how close Kate was to declaring her love that night in the bullpen and Lucy had cut her off, knowing it is the one thing that might make her crumble; and she doesn’t want that. She holds her breath and turns.

“Thank you,” is all Kate says.

Lucy exhales slowly, before offering her a half-smile, the best she can do in the circumstances.

“I’ll see you, Kate.”